New Developers Left Web3 En Masse In The Past 12 Months

The number of active crypto developers has fallen by 22% since hitting an all-time high last year, according to a mid-year developer report from Electric Capital, a prominent crypto venture fund.

The data shows that 21,300 web3 developers were active last month, down from a peak of 27,300 in June 2022. Despite the number of contributors dropping year-over-year, the report notes that activity is up 25% in the past two years, and 92% since mid-2020.

“There are more monthly active developers today than before crypto markets hit an all-time high in Nov 2021,” Electric Capital said. “Historically, developers in bear markets have lower retention.”

The data shows the resilience of web3 despite the recent bear market, with more developers active today while most digital assets languish well below their all-time highs.

Veteran developers published more than 80% of all crypto Github commits last month, suggesting the 2022 bear trend sent many newcomers packing. Roughly 7,700 developers who worked in crypto for less than a year exited the space in the past 12 months, a 48% decline.

“Developers who left crypto recently were newcomers who worked in crypto less than 12 months and were only responsible for less than 20% of all code commits,” Electric Capital said.

Just 1,650 developers who joined in the last year remain active today.

Osmosis, Sui, Aptos Attract New Talent

Several protocols bucked the downtrend by expanding their developer ecosystems.

Osmosis saw the largest influx of contributors, closing June with 372 after growing 56%. Sui, Aptos and TON were other major gainers.