What befalls the developers of a blockchain network when their ecosystem falls apart? The Terra project gives us some insight. As per Electric Capital’s report, more than half of the 323 open-source developers who contributed to projects on the Terra platform before its algorithmic stablecoin went under in early 2022 abandoned crypto development by December. Popularly known as “devs,” these individuals are an essential part of vitalizing digital networks, and it is clear that they must be supported during times of turbulence.
Terra, Once the Most Famous Stablecoin, Crashed Unexpectedly In 2022
In May, the Terra network experienced a disaster when UST and LUNA token failures caused a crash of $40 billion in assets. As an aftermath of this tragedy, 180 blockchain developers ceased developing crypto projects altogether. Fortunately, 42 brave programmers migrated to other Cosmos-based networks. Meanwhile, Electric Capital reported that 35 devoted their efforts towards rebuilding Luna 2.0; five shifted over to Solana; and 11 tirelessly worked on Osmosis – a decentralized exchange powered by Cosmos technology. When the Terra project crumbled, it was a major setback for DeFi traders who had previously relied on Ethereum. After all, Terra – an ecosystem based on Cosmos- quickly became their go-to network.
Despite All These Breaks, The Number Of Developers Is Increasing Day By Day
In 2022, the crypto ecosystem underwent a significant transformation as several projects lost their developers. One of them was Project Terra which experienced a dramatic decrease in its token price after $100 million worth of assets were stolen via Harmony’s bridge connecting Horizon and Ethereum. Fantom is another top-tier blockchain with plenty to offer, yet security concerns have taken away some of its momenta recently.
During 2022, the crypto developer community experienced a surge in growth of 5%. In fact, 61k developers contributed to crypto projects for the first time ever, and 23k monthly developers were active by December. This is an all-time high that has yet to be surpassed!
Last year, indications surfaced that the duopoly of Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of core developers had begun to decline. Data from a report showed that up to 72% of monthly active developers worked on projects other than these two major blockchains. Promising new initiatives such as Solana, Near, and Polygon have seen tremendous growth by 40%, with more than 500 dedicated developers for each project every month since 2021!
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