Executive Summary
The Story So Far
Why This Matters
Who Thinks What?
Ethereum continues to solidify its position as the leading blockchain ecosystem for developers, attracting over 16,000 new contributors between January and September 2025, according to data from Electric Capital cited by the Ethereum Foundation. This influx underscores Ethereum’s sustained dominance, driven by its robust network and expanding layer-2 solutions. Solana emerged as the second-most popular destination for new developers, adding approximately 11,500 during the same period, though its foundation suggests the actual number may be higher due to potential data undercounting.
Developer Landscape Overview
Electric Capital’s developer tracker indicates that Ethereum currently boasts the largest active developer base across all blockchain ecosystems, with 31,869 active developers. This figure includes contributions to prominent layer-2 networks such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Unichain, as defined by L2Beat, ensuring no double-counting of developers working across multiple layers.
Solana follows with 17,708 active developers, while Bitcoin trails with 11,036. Despite Ethereum’s larger overall base, Solana has demonstrated significantly stronger growth over the past two years, with its full-time developer count increasing by 29.1% year-on-year and a remarkable 61.7% surge over two years, marking one of the fastest expansions in the industry. In comparison, full-time Ethereum developers grew by 5.8% year-on-year.
Data Methodology and Challenges
The Solana Foundation has raised concerns regarding Electric Capital’s methodology, with Jacob Creech, head of developer relations, stating that around 7,800 developers might be missing from the current dataset. Creech urged the community to submit GitHub repositories to enhance Solana’s tracking accuracy.
The broader developer tracking methodology has also faced scrutiny from analysts. Some argue that ecosystems utilizing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), such as Polygon and BNB Chain, should be grouped together due to shared tools and programming standards. Additionally, Jarrod Watts, head of Australia for layer-2 project Abstract, suggested that factors like AI-assisted code generation and hackathon projects could be inflating overall developer figures with “vibe coding slop and hackathon repos that are never touched again.”
Latin America’s Developer Trends
A report by Sherlock Communications highlights a growing trend among developers in Latin America to build on established blockchains like Ethereum and Polygon, rather than creating new base-layer protocols. Ethereum accounts for over 75% of regional blockchain transactions, while Polygon’s share has nearly doubled to 20%.
Developers in the region cite transparency, ease of use, and regulatory clarity as primary motivations for choosing mature ecosystems. Luiz Eduardo Abreu Hadad, a Sherlock researcher, noted that Latin America’s developer community exhibits “strong technical maturity” and a focus on solving real-world problems. This trend is supported by on-chain data from 697,000 transactions across countries including Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru, although local projects like Brazil’s Núclea Chain and RBB demonstrate the region’s potential for developing its own blockchain infrastructure.
Key Takeaways
Ethereum maintains its lead in attracting new and active developers, reinforcing its position as the most actively developed blockchain. Solana, however, is experiencing rapid growth, challenging the accuracy of current developer metrics. The broader discussion around data collection and the preference for established chains in regions like Latin America underscore the dynamic and maturing landscape of blockchain development.
