Web3 development skyrocketed in Q4 2022

According to the latest data, web3 developer activity has skyrocketed in the last quarter of 2022, despite the challenges faced in the cryptosphere.

Web3 developer activity up by 453% on Ethereum

A new report by Alchemy, a web3 developer platform, revealed that developer activity across the web3 space has surged by 453% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The skyrocketing developer activity comes amidst one of the most problematic times in the cryptocurrency space, following the FTX debacle, a harsh bear market, and decreased consumer confidence in the industry and market.

The report looked into the activity across the Ethereum mainnet, testnet, and layer2 bridges. It also delves into the Solana ecosystem. Despite seeing a drop of 10% in price and rising centralized exchange (CEX) outflows,

Ethereum mainnet smart contract deployments rose by 453% in Q4 2022, compared to the last quarter, and by 293% compared to Q4 2021.

According to the research, web 3 developer teams saw steady growth in 2022, even as the price of Ether (ETH) plummeted. Ethereum core developer tool downloads increased, and Goerli testnet smart contracts have reached an all-time high.

Ethereum Library installations and Layer1 to Layer2 bridging have also increased, suggesting strong developer activity.

Alchemy has also seen massive growth in active developer teams on its platform across different layer1 and layer2 blockchains. Optimism Protocol, Polygon, and Arbitrum saw 1,000%, 389%, and 718% growth in Q4 2022, compared to Q4 2021.

Solana active developer teams on Alchemy also saw a growth of 1,000% year over year.

Interest in NFTs and DeFi dropped dramatically

While developer activity has reached its peak in the last quarter of 2022 across multiple data points, typical smart contract interaction has decreased heavily.

Non-Fungible Token (NFT) sales have dropped by 94% in volume compared to Q4 2021, which saw the peak of the NFT craze. During this time, the total value locked (TVL) in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has dropped by 77%.

Although some claim that the decreasing interest in DeFi and NFT results from overhyped crazes that have passed their peak, developer activity suggests that there is still much to come.

As devs leverage these concepts to build new and improved use cases and products for the web3 industry, it is possible that innovation may bring back the trust and activity back into the space.‍