Unchained

How Solana Beat Out Ethereum to Nab New Crypto Developers in 2024 - Ep. 749

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The 2024 Developer Report from Electric Capital reveals many shifting dynamics. For starters, for the first time in eight years, Ethereum was not the top chain for new developers—Solana was. Meanwhile, Asia has emerged as the leading hub for crypto development, taking the top spot from North America, which dropped to third.

In this episode, General Partner Maria Shen explores how Ethereum's Layer 2 solutions are bolstering its position despite fierce competition, why the Bitcoin developer ecosystem remains steadfast, and how emerging projects like EigenLayer are capturing builders’ attention. 

She also delves into the top crypto technologies that are fascinating devs, and how their usage and development activity differ across the globe. 

Show highlights:

  • Maria’s top takeaways from the report
  • Whether the developer migration from the U.S. will stop under a friendlier regulatory environment
  • How Ethereum has maintained its dominance despite its high fees and the rise of Solana 
  • What the steadiness of the Bitcoin developer ecosystem shows
  • Which other smaller ecosystems are growing the most 
  • How ZK contract usage has been increasing over time
  • Why, despite what one could think, NFT minting activity is higher than ever
  • How stablecoin usage differs from token to token and also across countries

    • Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com

    Thank you to our sponsors!
    • Polkadot
    Guest
    • Maria Shen, General Partner at Electric Capital
    • Previous appearance on Unchained: Why Crypto Developer Activity Continues to Grow Despite the Bear Market 
      • Links
      • Unchained: A Big 2024 Crypto Trend: Solana Attracts More New Developers Than Ethereum


      Timestamps: 

      • 00:00 Intro
      • 02:02 Key findings from Electric Capital’s Developer Report
      • 08:28 Could a friendlier U.S. regulatory environment reverse the developer migration?
      • 12:54 How Ethereum could stay dominant amid rising competition from Solana
      • 17:48 Insights from the Bitcoin developer ecosystem
      • 21:33 Emerging smaller ecosystems gaining traction
      • 23:41 The steady growth in ZK contract usage
      • 27:39 Why NFT minting activity is at an all-time high
      • 32:31 How stablecoin usage varies across tokens, chains and countries
      • 36:22 News Recap


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        UnchainedBy Laura Shin