According to the recently released Developer Report, developer activity and capital inflows remained strong in the first quarter of this year despite falling market prices. There are approximately 21,697 active developers per month, of which 7,039 are full-time developers.
New talent continued to enter the crypto space during the quarter, including 9,350 developers and 8,750 repositories. However, the total number of active developers is down about 17% from its all-time high in 2022. Full-time developer income has also fallen by about 10%, but appears to have stabilized.
Additionally, crypto developer activity is seasonal and proportional to market fluctuations. The largest declines typically occur 12-14 months after the most significant increase in network value.
Full-time developers remain the workhorse of cryptocurrency projects, accounting for approximately 70-75% of total code commits, highlighting their critical role in the industry. Since the beginning of the year, full-time developer commits have increased 16%, from 343,000 to 398,000. And full-time developers are more likely to stick around during tough times and bear markets. Only 35% of developers who left during the quarter were full-time developers, while the remaining 65% were part-time (49%) or one-time contributors (15%).
In the market cycle, the stage at which developers enter the cryptocurrency field seems to be related to their retention rate in the previous quarter. It is worth noting that 50% of the crypto developers who left in the first quarter of 2023 joined during the 2021-2022 bull market. (Planet Daily)