The Developer Report from Electric Capital highlights a resurgence in new crypto developers, growing by 15% in 2020 for the first time since 2017, with over 80% of active developers entering the space in the last two years. It shows that while development is consolidating around high-quality ecosystems like Bitcoin and Ethereum, areas outside the top 200 by network value are shrinking significantly. Overall, the report underscores an unprecedented analysis of developer engagement in the cryptocurrency ecosystem due to its open-source nature.

1. Developer Report
January - October 2020

2. The Developer Report is built on proprietary data from Electric Capital
Electric Capital is a venture firm that invests in cryptocurrencies & blockchain based businesses.
We compile code, profile nodes, analyze blockchains and open source projects, help secure
cryptonetworks, and write software to help the crypto industry understand developer adoption
across ecosystems.
Twitter: @ElectricCapital
Data Pipeline
Curtis Spencer
Twitter: @jubos
Contributor
Avichal Garg
Twitter: @avichal
Data Pipeline
Ken Deeter
Twitter: @puntium
2
Author
Maria Shen
Twitter: @MariaShen

3. Why analyze developer activity?
3
1. Crypto networks are new open platforms on which a new applications will be built.
2. An early signal of adoption on an emerging platform is engagement from
developers. Developers build the applications that deliver value to end users and
customers, which attracts more developers.
3. The crypto stack is uniquely open source, allowing us to analyze and understand
developer engagement in an unprecedented way.

4. 1. The number of new crypto developers is growing for the first time since 2017
a. New monthly crypto developers grew 15% in 2020, increasing for the first time since 2017
b. 80%+ of all active developers today came in the last two years
2. There is a flight to quality: high quality ecosystems are growing while others are shrinking
a. Monthly active crypto developers have stayed flat even as new developers joined due to developer loss
outside of the Top 200 ecosystems by network value
b. The number of developers outside of the Top 200 decreased by 30% from December 2018
3. Developer activity is particularly strong across Bitcoin, Ethereum, some Layer 1s, and Decentralized Finance
a. Bitcoin ecosystem has 70%+ more developers than it did 3 years ago
b. 300+ new developers per month commit to the Ethereum ecosystem
c. 67% increase in monthly active developers in Decentralized Finance since January 2020
Executive Summary
4

5. Overview
5

6. December 1 - 31, 2019:
1,277 New Developers
+15%
The last time new crypto
developers increased for more
than 3 months was December
2017 at peak Bitcoin prices...
...but new monthly developers
grew 15% since start of 2020
December 1 - 31, 2017:
2,550 New Developers
October 1 - 31, 2020:
1,470 New Developers
The number of new crypto developers is growing for the first time since 2017
6Overview

7. And monthly active developers seem to be flat/slightly up in 2020...
7Monthly active is the sum of unique developers who were active in the preceding 28 days
Jan 1, 2020
Developers: 8,212
October 31, 2020
Developers: 8,739
There is a slight 6% increase since Jan
2020, but falls within historical noise.
Overview

8. ...Because developers are consolidating into high quality ecosystems in the top 200 by Network Value
8
...while Developers
outside of the Top 200
have decreased 30%
2018 Winter Developer High
December 15, 2018
Other Developers: 5,328
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 3,684
Top 200 Developers
increased by 13% since
December 2018...
4850
Some developers worked in both Top 200 and Other, so the sum of Top 200 and Other is greater than total unique developers in crypto
October 31, 2020
Developers: 5,469
Overview

9. There are areas of strong developer growth...
9Overview

10. Bitcoin monthly active developers have grown 70%+ in 3 years
10
+71%
October 31, 2020
Developers: 361
October 31, 2017
Developers: 211
OverviewMonthly active is the sum of unique developers who were active in the preceding 28 days

11. Ethereum monthly active developers have grown 215%+ in 3 years
11
October 31, 2020
Developers: 2,325
+215%
October 31, 2017
Developers: 738
OverviewMonthly active is the sum of unique developers who were active in the preceding 28 days

12. Decentralized finance developers increased by 67% since January 2020
12
+67%
October 31, 2020
Developers: 925
January 1, 2020
Developers: 554
OverviewMonthly active is the sum of unique developers who were active in the preceding 28 days

13. Who left crypto, who remains, and who joined?
Let’s segment by:
1. Developer Types
a. Frequency of Contribution…………………………………………………………………………….....…..14
b. Start Date……………………………………………………………………………………………………...20
2. Ecosystem Types
a. Size of Ecosystem…………………………………………………………………………………………….29
b. Top 200 Ecosystems by Network Value…….……………………………………………………….....……60
c. Layer 1 Ecosystems………………………………………………………………………………….........…..70
d. Decentralized Finance……………………………………………………………………………………...104
13Table of contents

14. Developers
By Frequency of Contribution
14

15. Looking across all crypto developers...
15Developers | by frequency of contribution

16. October 31, 2018
Developers: 9,533
Jan 1, 2020
Developers: 8,212
October 31, 2020
Developers: 8,739
October 31, 2019
Developers: 9,083
There are 8,000+ monthly active developers in crypto Since early 2018
16
A developer is active if they
contribute a code commit to a
crypto ecosystem
Developers | by frequency of contributionMonthly active is the sum of unique developers who were active in the preceding 28 days
8,000 monthly active developers

17. Most developers contribute fewer than 10 days in 1 month
17
75% of developers contributed fewer than 10 days in October 2020
Infrequent Contributors Frequent Contributors
Developers | by frequency of contribution

18. We can categorize developers based on frequency of contribution
18
Infrequent Contributors
Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors
Active for 10 or more days per month
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month
Developers | by frequency of contribution

19. Year over Year, infrequent Contributors decreased by 13% while Frequent Contributors stayed relatively flat
19
October 31, 2020
Developers: 5,891
2,798
January 1, 2020
Developers: 5,573
2,840
Infrequent developers fell 13% since
October 2018, though it’s still within
normal fluctuations
October 31, 2019
Developers: 6,156
October 31, 2018
Developers: 6,767
2,976
2,848
Frequent developers numbers are
steady and stayed flat with slight 2%
gain since October 2018
Developers | by frequency of contribution
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month

20. Developers
By Start Date
20

21. We find each developer’s first commit date to pinpoint their start date
21
For example, 1,971 developers
committed code for the first time in a
crypto ecosystem in July 2019
Developers | by start date

22. 1200+ new developers join crypto every month in 2020
22
2020 New Developers
Developers | by start date

23. December 1 - 31, 2019:
1,277 New Developers
+15%
The last time new crypto
developers increased for more
than 3 months was December
2017...
...but new monthly developers
grew 15% since start of 2020
December 1 - 31, 2017:
2,550 New Developers
October 1 - 31, 2020:
1,470 New Developers
15% growth in monthly new developers in crypto since December 2019
23Developers | by start date

24. Yearly new developers in 2020 already exceeded new developers from 2017
24
Only through
October 2020
2020 New Developers already
exceeded 2017 New Developers
Developers | by start date

25. 45% of new developers in 2020 were active in the last 90 days
25
45% of new developers in
2020 were active in the
last 90 days
Developers
Developers | by start date

26. 40%+ of currently active monthly developers started in 2020
26
40%+ of all
developers
started in 2020
Earlier
Developers | by start date
Proportion of Monthly Active Developers by Start Date

27. 80%+ of all active
developers came in
after Bitcoin prices
peaked in
December 2017
80%+ of currently active developers started after Bitcoin’s all time high in 2017
27
Earlier
Developers | by start date
Proportion of Monthly Active Developers by Start Date

28. Switching to looking at ecosystems...
28

29. Ecosystems
By ecosystem Size
29

30. Protocol Developers
Community Developers
1. Community Developers are
working on decentralized
applications, documentation,
tooling, wallets, and anything
else furthering the project.
2. Protocol Developers
include developers working
only on the core protocol.
Ecosystems are comprised of community and protocol level developers
30Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

31. We can count the number of crypto ecosystems that are active per month
31
An ecosystem is active if there was
a code commit in one of its
repositories
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

32. Active ecosystems crossed over 800 in 2018 and have stayed above this level
32
October 31, 2020
Active Ecosystems: 816
Ecosystem All Time High
March 31, 2019
Active Ecosystems: 995
January 1, 2018
Active Ecosystems: 744
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

33. October 31, 2020
Active Ecosystems: 816
Ecosystem All Time High
March 31, 2019
Active Ecosystems: 995
Active ecosystems decreased by 18% since the all time high Ecosystem Count
33
-18%
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

34. October 31, 2020
Active Ecosystems: 816
The number of crypto ecosystems have grown 143% since 2017
34
Ecosystems have
grown 143% since
Jan 2017Jan 2017
Active Ecosystems: 335
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

35. Let’s segment ecosystems by number of developers...
35Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

36. Ecosystems with 2-10 developers are the source of the overall drop
36
October 2020
Active Ecosystems: 423
Ecosystem All Time High
March 31, 2019
Active Ecosystems: 560
-24%
221
160
17
16
200
182
23
14 9
Small Ecosystems: 2-10 developers
Single Developer Ecosystems: 1 developer
Medium Ecosystems: 11-50 developers
Large Ecosystems: 51-100 developers
Mature Ecosystems: 100+ developers
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

37. Ecosystems with 1 developer have stayed flat around 200 since 2018
37
160
17
16
200
14
There have been around
200 ecosystems with 1
developer since 2018
October 2020
Active Ecosystems: 423
Small Ecosystems: 2-10 developers
Single Developer Ecosystems: 1 developer
Medium Ecosystems: 11-50 developers
Large Ecosystems: 51-100 developers
Mature Ecosystems: 100+ developers
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

38. 2019 Q3 to 2020 Q3 Change
Bigger team size category
Stayed within the same category
Smaller team size category
Dead (0 developers)
We can track how ecosystems changed size categories from 2019 q3 to 2020 q3
38
...and break down how these
ecosystems changed team sizes
in 2020 Q3
We can look at the size of
ecosystems in 2019 Q3...
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size
Percent of Ecosystems that Changed

39. Ecosystems with 100+ developers did not fall below that level by 2020 q3
39
100% of ecosystems with
100+ devs stayed within
the same category
2019 Q3 to 2020 Q3 Change
Bigger team size category
Stayed within the same category
Smaller team size category
Dead (0 developers)
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size
Percent of Ecosystems that Changed

40. Ecosystems with 31-50 developers in q3 2019 were the most prone to losing developers
40
70%+ of developers who
had 31-50 developers in
Q3 2019 decreased team
size by Q3 2020
2019 Q3 to 2020 Q3 Change
Bigger team size category
Stayed within the same category
Smaller team size category
Dead (0 developers)
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

41. Ecosystems with fewer than 10 developers are likelier to be abandoned
41
25% of ecosystems with fewer
than 10 devs and 56% of
ecosystems with 1 dev are
dead one year later
2019 Q3 to 2020 Q3 Change
Bigger team size category
Stayed within the same category
Smaller team size category
Dead (0 developers)
Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

42. We can take a snapshot of ecosystems in 2019 & 2020
to see how developer numbers changed
42Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

43. 2019 q3 vs 2020 q3
43Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

44. We can benchmark 2020 q3 team size against 2019 q3 to assess Developer growth
44
The y-axis indicates
the average monthly
developers in 2020 Q3
The x-axis indicates
the average monthly
developers in 2019 Q3
2019 Q3
2020Q3
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

45. Most ecosystems with more than 100+ devs today grew or stayed the same Size
45
Polkadot, Cosmos, Bitcoin,
and others grew across
2019 Q3 and 2020 Q3
same size
gained developers
lost developers
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

46. same size
gained developers
lost developers
Ethereum gained 300+ average monthly developers since q3 2019
46
Ethereum:
2019 Q3: 1,985
2020 Q3: 2,296
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

47. Zooming in...Polkadot, Tezos, Cardano had 100+ devs in Q3 2019 and gained more developers by Q3 2020
47
Had 100+ developers in
2019 Q3 and gained more
developers 2020 Q3
Ecosystems with 100
developers in Q3 2019
same size
gained developers
lost developers
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

48. same size (1x)
gained developers
lost developers
Polkadot doubled their developer Count
48
Polkadot:
2019 Q3: 189
2020 Q3: 384
gained 100%
m
ore developers
(2x)
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

49. same size (1x)
gained developers
lost developers
gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
Filecoin broke into the 100+ category by growing devs 3x
49
gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
Filecoin:
2019 Q3: 37
2020 Q3: 113
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

50. same size
gained developers
lost developers
Bitcoin, cosmos, Lightning, and Hyperledger all stayed the same size
50Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

51. same size
gained developers
lost developers
Eos lost an average of 88 monthly active developers
51
EOS:
2019 Q3: 195
2020 Q3: 107
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

52. gained developers
lost developers
Zooming in further to ecosystems with 20+ developers...
52Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

53. gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
Celo, Nervos, Algorand, Gnosis, Solana now have close to 2x their developers in 2019 q3
53
gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
gained developers
lost developers
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

54. gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
The graph, oasis, Chainlink, and others now have more than 2x their developers in 2019 q3
54
gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
gained developers
lost developers
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

55. gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
gained developers
lost developers
Near, Flow, Avalanche, Uniswap, Balancer, Arweave, & others now havemore than 3x their developers in 2019 Q3
55Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

56. Zooming into Ecosystems with <50 developers &
filtering out small network value ecosystems...
56Ecosystems | by ecosystem size

57. Holo, Omisego, Zilliqa, Ark, SKALE, & Others roughly stayed the same size
57
gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
Roughly
stayed the
same size
same size
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

58. gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
same size
Algorand, Solana, Thorchain, Synthetix, & others have close to 2x their developers in 2019 q3
58Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

59. Chainlink, Avalanche, Uniswap, Arweave, Crypto.com, Balancer, Matic & others havemore than 2x developers
59
gained 100%
m
ore developers (2x)
gained200%
m
oredevelopers(3x)
same size
Ecosystems | by ecosystem sizeGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

60. Ecosystems
By Top 200 in network value
60

61. 14% more developers working in the top 200 since January 2020
61
October 31, 2020
Developers: 5,469
Jan 1, 2020
Developers: 4,810
+14%
Ecosystems | by Top 200 in Network Value

62. Most developers have consolidated into the top 200 ecosystems
62
...while Developers
outside of the Top 200
have decreased 30%
2018 Winter Developer High
December 15, 2018
Other Developers: 5,328
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 3,684
Top 200 Developers
increased by 13% since
December 2018...
4850
Some developers worked in both Top 200 and Other, so the sum of Top 200 and Other will be greater
than total unique developers in crypto
October 31, 2020
Developers: 5,469
Ecosystems | by Top 200 in Network Value

63. 2018 Winter Developer High
December 15, 2018
Other Developers: 5,328
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 3,684
4850
October 31, 2020
Developers: 5,469
Developers in the Top 200 ecosystems are at all time highs
63
Top 200 Developers in 2020
Q3 are at all time highs
Ecosystems | by Top 200 in Network ValueSome developers worked in both Top 200 and Other, so the sum of Top 200 and Other will be greater
than total unique developers in crypto

64. Some developers worked in multiple ecosystem categories, so the sum of these categories will be greater than
total unique developers in crypto
Even excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, top 200 ecosystems are still growing
64
Even excluding Bitcoin and
Ethereum, the Top 200
Ecosystems are still growing
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 3,684
2,325
361
2,937
Ecosystems | by Top 200 in Network Value

65. Frequent and infrequent contributors both increased in the top 200 ecosystems
65
+18%
October 31, 2020
Developers: 3,588
Jan 1, 2020
Developers: 3,038
+6%
1,881
1,772
Ecosystems | by Top 200 in Network Value
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month

66. Looking at Top 10 Gainers across all Top 200 ecosystems… Ethereum gained the most developers
66
Ethereum gained the
most developers
from 2019 Q3 to 2020
Q3

67. Excluding ethereum from the top 10 gainers, we see...
67
Filecoin:
Incentivized testnet
announced June 2020
Near:
“Stake Wars” announced
June 2020
Cardano:
Friends and Family Testnet
announced May 2020
Oasis:
Incentivized testnet - Dec 2019
Release candidate - Jun 2020
Mainnet- Nov 2020

68. Filtering to Top 10 gainers in ecosystems with 100 devs or fewer...
68
Near:
“Stake Wars”
announced
June 2020
Chainlink:
Grants + Hackathons in
August 2020
Chainlink VRF on
Ethereum October 2020
Oasis:
Incentivized testnet - Dec 2019
Release candidate - Jun 2020
Mainnet- Nov 2020
Solana:
Serum announces it
will be building on
Solana July 2020

69. Filtering to Top 10 gainers in ecosystems with 30 devs or fewer...
69
Avalanche:
Testnet launched June 2020
Mainnet launched
September 2020
Balancer:
Adding tokens
and UI changes
Uniswap:
UNI tokens
announced
September 2020
Arweave:
Nest.land development
Yearn.Finance:
Launched July 2020
Most developers
contribute to
documentation in
iearn-finance/docs

70. Ecosystems
By Layer 1
70

71. 12% more developers working in layer 1 Ecosystems since January 2020
71
+12%
October 31, 2020
Developers: 5,027
January 1, 2020
Developers: 4,472
Ecosystems | by Layer 1

72. Since April 2020, more developers work in layer 1 Ecosystems than other crypto ecosystems
72
Winter 2018 Developer High
December 15, 2018
Other Developers: 5,961
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 4,135
4,289
5,027
Some developers worked in both Layer 1s and Other, so the sum of Layer 1s and Other will
be greater than total unique developers in crypto
Since April 2020, more
developers work in Layer 1
ecosystems than other crypto
ecosystems
Ecosystems | by Layer 1

73. January 1, 2020
Other Developers: 4,468
Removing Ethereum & Bitcoin, layer 1 ecosystems are still gaining developers
73
2,325
361
2,460
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 4,135
2,199
1,961
402
Ecosystems | by Layer 1
Some developers worked in multiple ecosystem categories, so the sum of these categories will be greater than
total unique developers in crypto

74. January 1, 2020
Other Developers: 4,468
There are now almost as many developers working in Ethereum as other Layer 1 ecosystems combined
74
2,325
361
2,460
October 31, 2020
Other Developers: 4,135
2,199
1,961
402
There are now almost as many
developers working in Ethereum as
other Layer 1 ecosystems combined,
excluding Bitcoin
Ecosystems | by Layer 1
Some developers worked in multiple ecosystem categories, so the sum of these categories will be greater than
total unique developers in crypto

75. Both frequent and infrequent contributors are increasing for layer 1 ecosystems
75
+14%
+9%
January 1, 2020
Developers: 2,836
October 31, 2020
Developers: 3,243
1,784
1,636
Ecosystems | by Layer 1
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month

76. Layer 1
bitcoin
76

77. The number of Bitcoin developers have stayed around the same since 2019
77
January 1, 2020
Developers: 402
October 31, 2020
Developers: 361
Bitcoin developers have
commonly fluctuated between
350 - 450 since 2018
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin

78. Bitcoin monthly active developers have grown 70%+ in 3 years
78
+71%
October 31, 2020
Developers: 361
October 31, 2017
Developers: 211
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin

79. Bitcoin has maintained above 100 monthly active frequent contributors
79
Bitcoin has mostly
maintained above 100
monthly active frequent
contributors
Dec 6, 2018
Developers: 100
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month

80. Between 45 - 120 new developers contribute to bitcoin per month since 2017
80
Developers
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin

81. The number of new developers That join Bitcoin increased after 2017 Bull Run
81
Post 2017: 45-120 new developers join per month
Pre 2017: 20-60 new developers
Developers
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin

82. Bitcoin ecosystem BUIDL* WAVEs
82*This naming is a nod to the original hodl waves visualization Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin
We can color code the age distribution
developers that contribute commits in
Bitcoin…
...spikes in warmer colors (red, yellow)
indicate increased commits from newer
developers

83. Looking only at bitcoin core, 50% of the monthly commits are from DEVS INVOLVED for 5 years or more
83Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Bitcoin
~20% of developers in 2020 have been
developing in Bitcoin Core for 5+ years...
...and they contribute 50% of monthly
commits

84. Layer 1
Ethereum
84

85. Ethereum has consistently increased monthly active developers
85
October 31, 2020
Developers: 2,325
+16%
+19%
January 1, 2020
Developers: 1,961
January 1, 2019
Developers: 1,651
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Ethereum

86. Ecosystems outside of ethereum have lost developers since Oct 2019
86
2,325
October 31, 2020
Developers: 6,732
-11%
October 31, 2019
Developers: 7,595
2,053
+13%
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Ethereum

87. infrequent contributors increased 22% while frequent contributors increased 13% in ethereum since jan 2020
87
October 31, 2020
Developers: 1,507
January 1, 2020
Developers: 1,234
818
727
+22%
+13%
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Ethereum
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month

88. Since 2018, 300+ new developers commit to the Ethereum ecosystem each month
88
Since 2018, 300+ new
developers join Ethereum each
month
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Ethereum

89. Roughly a quarter of new developers in crypto contribute to the ethereum ecosystem
89
26% of new
developers
from October
2020 were in
the Ethereum
ecosystem
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | Ethereum

90. Layer 1 Ecosystems
All Layer 1 Ecosystems
90

91. Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polkadot, Cosmos, Tezos, Cardano, EOS are the biggest Layer 1 ecosystems
91
same size (1x)
gained developers
lost developers
gained 100%
m
ore developers
(2x)
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | AllGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

92. Holo, zcash, harmony, zilliqa, Fetch, Ark, Spacemesh, & others have maintained roughly the same number of developers
92
same size (1x)
gained developers
lost developers
gained 100%
m
ore developers
(2x)
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | AllGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones
Roughly
stayed the
same size

93. Near, Oasis, Flow, Avalanche, Dfinity, & Mobilecoin increased average monthly developers by 100%
93
gained 100%
m
ore developers
(2x)
same size (1x)
gained developers
lost developers
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | AllGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

94. Monero, Tron, Stellar, & Diem (Libra) maintained 51-100 developers between 2019 q3 and 2020 q3
94
Developers that maintained
51-100 developers in 2019 Q3 and
2020 Q3
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | AllGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

95. Celo, nervos, Near, Oasis Labs, & Algorand grew into the 51-100 developer category in 2020 q3
95
Developers that maintained
51-100 developers in 2019 Q3 and
2020 Q3
Developers that grew into the 51-100
developer category in 2020 Q3
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | AllGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

96. Bitcoin Cash, NEO, XRP, Waves, & Ethereum Classic dropped out of the 51-100 developer category in 2020 q3
96
Developers that maintained
51-100 developers in 2019 Q3 and
2020 Q3
Developers that
dropped out of the
51-100 developer
category in 2020 Q3
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | AllGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

97. Let’s filter to Ecosystems with more than 60
developers in the last month....
97

98. 5 years 10 years
We can compare growth by looking at Developers from the day of the first commit
98
3 years1 year
The day of the first commit in
each ecosystem
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | 60+ Devs

99. Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cosmos outpace other layer 1 platforms in growth
99
Ethereum, Polkadot,
and Cosmos are the
fastest growing Layer 1
ecosystems
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | 60+ Devs

100. at 3 years since first commit….polkadot has more developers than ethereum at the same point in time
100
Polkadot outpaces
Ethereum
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | 60+ Devs

101. Filtering to new Smart Contract Platforms launched
less than 3 years ago
101

102. Binance smart contract platform outpaces other layer 1 ecosystems at the same point of
development
102Binance Coin is indexed to Binance Smart Contract’s first commit date
2 years1 year
Binance has more
developers than other
new smart contracts at
the same point in time
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | New Smart Contract Platforms

103. Near is within 20 devs of ethereum at the 2 year mark, can it keep growing in year 3?
103Binance Coin is indexed to Binance Smart Contract’s first commit date
Near is one of the fastest growing
Layer 1 ecosystems at the 2 year
mark after Polkadot and Ethereum
2 years1 year
Ecosystems | by Layer 1 | New Smart Contract Platforms

104. Ecosystems
Decentralized Finance
104

105. 67% increase in monthly active Defi developers since January 2020
105
+67%
October 31, 2020
Developers: 925
January 1, 2020
Developers: 554
Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

106. Defi developers increased +110% since 2019 while other developers decreased -8%
106
-8%
+110%
925
441
January 1, 2019
Developers: 8,163
October 31, 2020
Developers: 7,542
Some developers worked in both Decentralized Finance and Other, so the sum of Decentralized Finance and Other
will be greater than total unique developers in crypto
Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

107. Frequent and infrequent developers in defi have both increased since beginning of 2020
107
+81%
+45%
January 1, 2020
Developers: 334
October 31, 2020
Developers: 606
334
220
Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance
Infrequent Contributors: Active fewer than 10 days per month
Frequent Contributors: Active for 10 or more days per month

108. We can take a snapshot of defi ecosystems in 2019 &
2020 to see how developer numbers changed
108

109. Lightning, Maker, Gnosis, Chainlink, Keep, Synthetix, Uniswap, Balancer, & more gained developers
109
same size
gained developers
lost developers
Ecosystems | Decentralized FinanceGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

110. Kyber, Augur, Loopring, Ren, Akropolis, Band, Connext, loopring all roughly stayed the same size
110
gained developers
lost developers
gained
100%
m
oredevelopers
(2x)gained200%
moredevelopers(3x)
Ecosystems | Decentralized FinanceGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

111. Uniswap, balancer, Yearn, MCDEX, Acala, & more gained 200%+ developers
111
gained developers
lost developers
gained
100%
m
oredevelopers
(2x)gained200%
moredevelopers(3x)
Ecosystems | Decentralized FinanceGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

112. Yearn & acala are the biggest new Defi ecosystems in q3 2020
112
UMA
2020 Q3
Yearn: 16 average monthly developers
Acala: 11 average monthly developers
2019 Q3
0 developers
Ecosystems | Decentralized FinanceGo to https://electric-capital.github.io to see which repositories we count & help add new ones

113. Looking at the top 5 Biggest gainers in Decentralized Finance...
113
Chainlink:
Grants + Hackathons in
August 2020
Chainlink VRF on
Ethereum October 2020
Balancer:
Adding tokens
and UI changes
Uniswap:
UNI tokens
announced
September 2020
Yearn.Finance:
Launched July 2020
Most developers
contribute to
documentation in
iearn-finance/docs
Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

114. Most defi ecosystems have small teams of fewer than 25 monthly developers
114
Most Defi Ecosystems
Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

115. Filtering to just Ecosystems with 25+ monthly developers...
115Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

116. 116
3 years1 year 5 years
We can index monthly active developers to the day of the first commit in each ecosystem
The day of the first commit in
each ecosystem
Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

117. 3 years1 year 5 years
Yearn.finance is one of the fastest growing defi ecosystems
Yearn.finance has 42 monthly active
developers <1 year after first public commit
Recent increase driven by community
contributions in documentation in
iearn-finance/docs
117Ecosystems | Decentralized Finance

118. 1. The number of new crypto developers is growing for the first time since 2017
a. New monthly crypto developers grew 15% in 2020, increasing for the first time since 2017
b. 80%+ of all active developers today came in the last two years
2. There is a flight to quality: high quality ecosystems are growing while others are shrinking
a. Monthly active crypto developers have stayed flat even as new developers joined due to developer loss
outside of the Top 200 ecosystems by network value
b. The number of developers outside of the Top 200 decreased by 30% from December 2018
3. Developer activity is particularly strong across Bitcoin, Ethereum, some Layer 1s, and Decentralized Finance
a. Bitcoin ecosystem has 70%+ more developers than it did 3 years ago
b. 300+ new developers per month commit to the Ethereum ecosystem
c. 67% increase in monthly active developers in Decentralized Finance since January 2020
Executive Summary
118

119. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on early drafts
119
Anatoly Yakovenko
@aeyakovenko
Aliaksandr [Sasha] Hudzilin
@AliaksandrH
Anne Fauvre
@AnnieFauv
Austin Virts
@austinvirts
Ben Sparango
@bennybitcoins
Bruno Skvorc
@bitfalls
Casey Caruso
@caseykcaruso
Corey Soreff
@csoreff
Dawn Song
@dawnsongtweets
Dmitriy Berenzon
@dberenzon
Eddy Lazzarin
@eddylazzarin
Evan Mair
@ETM612
Rene Reinsberg
@followrene
Ian Lee
@ianjohnlee
Jane Lippencott
@janehk
Katherine Wu
@katherineykwu
Linda Xie
@ljxie
Marek Olszewski
@marek_
Matt Taylor
@mattytay
Meltem Demirors
@Melt_Dem
Mildred Idada
@MI_Idada
Steve Lee
@moneyball
Muneeb Ali
@muneeb
Siddhartha Dutta
@NihilistSid
Scott Moore
@notscottmoore
Kevin Owocki
@owocki
Raj Gokal
@RajGokal
Ryan Shea
@ryaneshea
Eric Williams
@sciencethedata
Tiffany Gao
@TiffanyYijiaGao
Yulian Lavysh
@yulianNEAR
Dominic Tsang Praneeth Srikanti
@bees_neeth

120. Appendix & Methodology
120

121. Layer 1 Ecosystems
121Appendix & Methodology

122. Decentralized Finance Ecosystems
122Appendix & Methodology

123. Help map the crypto ecosystem
We’ve opened our ecosystem map on GitHub so that anyone can contribute:
1. Check our ecosystem mapping via https://electric-capital.github.io
2. Submit a new ecosystem via our form through https://airtable.com/shrN4vZMlBLm3Dap8
3. Or submit a pull request in https://github.com/electric-capital/crypto-ecosystems
We will use this data for our reports going forward.
123

124. Commit Counting Methodology: Not all code commits are created equal.
124
1. Forks: Only new code counts towards developer activity. We omit code and developer activity
from merging changes from the upstream codebase.
2. Fingerprinting: Fingerprinting is a technique used to identify commits originating from upstream
projects. We look at the files and lines changed, the commit message, committer, author and
associated dates.
3. Commits from Integrating Open Source Libraries: Integrating common libraries does not count
toward code activity.
4. Branches: We look at commits from all branches (master/development, etc.) and tags. We look
beyond Github's default view, which can be misrepresentative.
5. Limitations: We only look at open source repositories. There are many teams that are not yet
open source.
Appendix & Methodology

125. How are developers counted?
1. Developers: We count original code authors as developers. This means that a
developer who merges a pull request is not counted as an active developer on the
project, but the original authors of the commits are.
2. Frequent Contributors: contributed code 10+ days out of a month
3. Infrequent Contributors: contributed code fewer than 10 days out of a month
4. 3-month window: We look at the last 3 months of a developer’s activity to determine
their category.
125Appendix & Methodology

126. What is an ecosystem?
Maker Ecosystem
1. Maker Community:
○ xDai
○ awesome-makerdao
○ Market-maker-keeper
○ daipay
○ ...and more.
2. Maker Protocol
○ makerdao/sai
○ ...and more.
Ecosystems can live in other ecosystems.
The Maker ecosystem lives inside the
Ethereum ecosystem.
Protocol
Developers
Community
Developers
Parent Ecosystem
126Appendix & Methodology
Maker Ecosystem
Ethereum Ecosystem

127. 127
1. We consider open source repositories only. There are many more developers working on important closed
source projects or ecosystems. Some teams will open source their code later.
2. This methodology undercounts developers in other roles besides original code contribution such as
backporting, testing, release engineering or code review/feedback that aren’t reflected in git repositories.
3. It will require more than just software engineers to build product and reach mainstream adoption.
4. Not all commits are created equal. Some may be routine, mechanical changes, whereas others represent hours
of accumulated research and analysis.
Despite these caveats, we consider the analysis in this report directionally accurate and indicative of the overall health
of the ecosystem.
We are always looking to improve so please share feedback with us at info@electriccapital.com
Caveats
Appendix & Methodology

128. Disclaimer & Disclosure
The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other
material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this report constitutes a
solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Electric Capital or any third party service provider to
buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in in any other jurisdiction in which such
solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
Electric Capital has positions in some of the projects mentioned in this report. For a list of past and present
investments, please visit electriccapital.com.
128Appendix & Methodology