This year, in a major turn of events in the blockchain space, Solana was reportedly able to surpass Ethereum in attracting new crypto developers in 2024. This year alone, SOL has attracted 83% more new developers than last year, the first time a blockchain ecosystem has managed to attract more new developers than Ethereum since 2016, as per Electric Capital’s developer report.
The report shared with CoinDesk reveals how 7,625 new developers got IB for Solana in 2024, while the same number was 6,244 for Ethereum. This trend indicates changes in processes taking place within the blockchain developer market.
Solana Overtakes Ethereum for the First Time Since 2016
Reading through Electric Capital’s 2024 developer report shows that Solana is on an exponential rise. Thus, Solana has become the fastest-growing blockchain ecosystem proving that it has gained 83% of new developers this year.
“We see SOL has become the first blockchain to overtake Ethereum in new developer recruitment since 2016,” Maria Shen, the General Partner at Electric Capital, added. She also said that Ethereum is still the largest developer ecosystem worldwide. However, Solana’s development indicates that the trend toward such platforms is expanding.
This report also showed that Ethereum had a negative monthly active developer and lost 17% to reach 6,244. However, Ethereum remains on top in general due to a reliable layer-2 solution that includes Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, and others. These projects account for well over half of the total active developer activity on Ethereum.
At the time of writing this article, SOL is at $233 more dominant than Ethereum at $3,945, showing constant demand from the market for both projects.
Asia Emerges as a Leader in Blockchain Development
The decline in the US representation of blockchain developers is another fact that can be highlighted as another great finding of the report. In 2024, Asia will replace North America as the most favoured continent when it comes to blockchain developers.
India contributed to the shift by providing 17% of new crypto developers, the largest proportion of the country. This spike points to India’s growth in the blockchain market.
Shen emphasised the importance of this global redistribution of talent: From the start, it is important to note that the very concept of crypto is supposed to be free from national boundaries. That more participants are starting to come from regions other than North America further underlines the de-centralised character of blockchain.
However, the United States has the biggest percentage of the entire pool of developers globally at 19%. Nonetheless, according to the report, the face of the US in the crypto sphere is gradually fading, giving way to other countries such as India, China, Nigeria and others.
Key Takeaways from Solana’s Rapid Growth
These are the reasons why Solana’s developer adoption has spiked recently. Hence, high throughput, low transaction fees, and the presence of an active developer support network has made it a darling of developing developers on the blockchain.
Furthermore, Solana has steadily grown its ecosystem in the past year largely across the Asian continent. Blockchain is being successfully implemented across a vast array of use cases such as decentralised exchange (DEXs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
For Ethereum, the overall bigger network of layer-2 solutions still plays a decisive role in holding the largest developer network spot. Nevertheless, the question here is: How long will it sustain its leadership in the face of rising competition, given that the number of monthly active developers has slightly reduced?
Conclusion
Relatively, the decentralized developer scene is shifting drastically, with Solana outcompeting Ethereum for new crypto developers for the first time since 2016. The report from Electric Capital demonstrates not only Solana’s exceptional growth but also the change in geographical trends in the industry,y which Asia and India are now leading.
Thus, the growth of such blockchain systems as SOL indicates that the competition in the world of blockchain will be tougher and the number of platforms available to the audience will be greater. Ethereum has been a market leader, but the graph showing Solana’s progress suggests significant changes in developer trends. Whether this trend will continue, the time only will tell, however, Solana’s staggering rise is transforming the blockchain developer industry in 2024. Keep following The Bit Journal for the latest crypto updates and developments.
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