- Ethereum’s developer ecosystem is the largest in crypto by a significant margin.
- Over 4,000 active developers clock in every month on the Ethereum network.
As the cryptocurrency sector navigates through a bear market, one metric that remains strong is the number of monthly active developers on the Ethereum network. According to an analysis by BanklessTimes.com, Ethereum is maintaining its lead over other projects, with 4,000 monthly active developers indicating a growing interest in building on Ethereum. This is a 34% increase from the 2,972 developers recorded in 2020.
According to CEO at BanklessTimes.com,
CEO of BanklessTimesEthereum is attracting the largest percentage of all developers entering Web3. This is likely due to a number of factors, including the strength of its ecosystem, the maturity of its tooling, and the fact that it has a large community. Soon we’ll see the launch of Ethereum 2.0, which is set to solve the network’s high fees and slow transaction speeds. This will only solidify Ethereum’s position as the most popular smart contract platform.
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Ethereum’s monthly active developers are well ahead of Solana (~1,000), Bitcoin (~500), and chains like Avalanche, BNB Chain, Polygon, NEAR, Tezos, Internet Computer, and Cardano (which all have around ~300).
Development activity surrounding Ethereum is steadily increasing as we inch closer to the Merge upgrade. This network transition will change things over to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol. The upgrade results from years of research and development and will make Ethereum 2.0 a reality. The protocol change will improve several aspects of the network, including transaction speed, scalability, and energy efficiency.
The increase in developer activity indicates that the Ethereum community is confident in the network’s future. With the launch of Ethereum 2.0, we can expect to see even more development activity on the network as developers create new decentralized applications and protocols.
Ethereum’s Declining Gas Fees Attracting Developers
In the past, high Ethereum gas fees have hindered development progress on the network. However, gas fees have declined significantly recently, making it cheaper to develop on the network.
Ethereum’s average fees are at their lowest level in two years, with transactions executing for less than 18 gwei a pop. This is a far cry from the highs of over 400 gwei seen in September 2020. The decline in fees has made Ethereum much more attractive to developers, as they can now build on the network without having to worry about high fees eating into their profits.
The drop in fees has coincided with an increase in development activity on Ethereum. This suggests that developers are responding to the lower fees by building more on the network. With low gas fees, development activity will likely continue to increase in the coming months.
