Solana Surpasses Ethereum to Lead in Developer Attraction in 2024

• Solana attracts 7.625 new developers, surpassing Ethereum.
• Asia leads with 32% of the global developer base.
• EVM maintains dominance with 8.925 active developers.

Solana saw a staggering 83% growth in new developers in 2024, surpassing Ethereum for the first time since 2016. According to Electric Capital’s annual report, the blockchain attracted 7.625 new developers, a thousand more than Ethereum in the same period.

We @electriccapital analyzed 110k+ developer profiles to understand crypto devs geographically.

Asia is now #1 for crypto devs. The US is losing market share.

Crypto impacts every state in the US — crypto should be non-partisan.

Here's what the data shows why it matters: pic.twitter.com/n5sZ9HWbXu

— maria 🐸 (@MariaShen) October 30, 2024

While Ethereum remains the largest developer network overall, its number of monthly active developers has dropped by 17% to 6.244. Despite this, Ethereum’s ecosystem of layer 2 solutions such as Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base remain a significant driver of activity, accounting for 56% of the network’s developers.

Maria Shen, partner at Electric Capital, noted that despite the decline, Ethereum still leads globally due to its strong network effects. She also acknowledged Solana’s progress, noting that this is the first time since 2016 that another blockchain has surpassed Ethereum in attracting new talent.

If developer activity is any indication of innovation, it’s crucial to understand the numbers in this segment. As of November 2024, the cryptocurrency sector had an estimated 23.613 monthly active developers, representing just 0,0875% of the global population of 27 million software developers. Despite this being a 2.000% increase in a decade, the numbers are still down from the peak of 31.000 in 2022.

One of the highlights of the report was the global distribution of talent, which is becoming more decentralized. In 2015, 80% of developers were concentrated in North America and Europe. Today, these regions account for 24% and 31%, respectively, while Asia leads with 32%. In India, Solana dominates, with 27% of new developers opting for this ecosystem, more than any other blockchain.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) remains the dominant technology stack, with 8.925 developers, roughly 3,6 times the size of the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), which has 2.499. However, Solana leads in recruiting new developers, even as Ethereum is being strengthened by dozens of layer 2 rollups.

Furthermore, Ethereum has maintained its lead in new code creation, with around 65% being generated in the layer 1 and layer 2 ecosystems. On the other hand, solutions such as Starknet and Optimism present different dynamics, with developers focusing on innovation for specific transactions.

At the time of publication, the price of Solana was listed at US$231,46, up 1.3% in the last 24 hours.

The Bitcoin network, in turn, has around 1.200 active monthly developers, a stable number over the last 12 months. However, 42% of them are dedicated to solutions such as layer-2s and NFTs.