Solana Overtakes Ethereum as Top Ecosystem for New Developers in 2024: Report

Electric Capital’s 2024 Developer Report has revealed that for the first time since 2016, Solana overtook Ethereum as the leading blockchain ecosystem for attracting new developers.

The development highlights Solana’s rapid growth, with 7,625 new developers joining the network in the last 12 months, representing an 83% year-on-year increase.

Increased developer activity

He reportpublished on December 12, analyzed more than 902 million code commits across 1.7 million repositories, proving that the Solana developer community is the fastest growing among large blockchain networks.

This increase was driven by strong builder participation in Asia, where the network ranked as the number one platform for new developers in India and number two in other major markets such as the US, UK, Canada and China.

Reacting to the news, Solana accredited its community-driven spirit and focus on scalability to play an important role in its expansion. In 2024, it captured over 81% of all decentralized exchange (DEX) transactions, as well as 64% of mint NFT transactions across all chains.

Additionally, its wallet activity reached 1.7 million users, seven times that of the next largest chain.

However, despite Solana’s new status, Ethereum remains the dominant blockchain for total developer activity. While it added 1,169 fewer coders than its rival, globally, Ethereum continues to lead in metrics such as monthly active developers and code commits.

Additionally, established builders with more than two years as contributors are at an all-time high on the Vitalik Buterin-led blockchain, with 70% of commitments coming from them.

Solana takes small steps

However, Solana’s growth reflects broader diversification trends within the crypto industry. According to the Electric Capital study, one in three developers now works on multiple chains, up from less than 10% in 2015. The platform capitalized on this trend, positioning itself as an alternative for low-fee, decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases. . and NFTs.

To highlight the progress, the chain overrode Ethereum on several measures this year, albeit momentarily, including surpassing its total weekly transaction fees and maximum extractable value (MEV) tips in July.

Additionally, in November, the platform’s DEXs reached a milestone with one-day trading figures exceeding $5 billion for three consecutive days for the first time in their history. Activity peaked days later, leading the network to break another record as its monthly decentralized exchange volumes hit the $70 billion mark.