Asia surpasses North America in crypto developer dominance, data shows

With the US’s share of crypto developers declining, the country may be jeopardizing its leadership position in the rapidly changing crypto economy.

The United States is experiencing a decline in its share of crypto developers, raising concerns about its leadership in the blockchain space. Latest data from Maria Shen, general partner at blockchain startup Electric Capital, reveals that the US now represents only 18.8% of global crypto developers.

We @electriccapital analyzed 110k+ developer profiles to understand crypto devs geographically.

Asia is now #1 for crypto devs. The US is losing market share.

Crypto impacts every state in the US — crypto should be non-partisan.

Here’s what the data shows & why it matters: pic.twitter.com/n5sZ9HWbXu

— maria 🐸 (@MariaShen) October 30, 2024

The US developer share also fell by 51%; This indicates that the country may be losing its competitive advantage. Shen attributes this shift to a challenging regulatory environment and says the US “needs a clear crypto policy to maintain its leadership.”

The US had a 51% drop in dev share since 2015 – while crypto grew from $5B to $2.4T in market size!

Is this the result of negative regulatory environment? The US needs clear crypto policy to maintain its country lead.

Zooming in to the US: How does this break down by US state? pic.twitter.com/5n6gWRtFqM

— maria 🐸 (@MariaShen) October 30, 2024

Despite this trend, the US remains the top country for crypto developers (18.8%), followed by India and the UK with 11.8% and 4.2% respectively. Additionally, the data revealed that 64% of US-based developers live outside California and New York; Shen describes it as “an opportunity to create jobs and wealth for policymakers.”

In early January, Electric Capital announced that the total number of crypto developers decreased by 24% in 2023, while the number of newcomers fell by over 50%.

Looking at specific ecosystems, Ethereum has remained the dominant platform, attracting more than 16,000 new developers actively contributing code this year. Other platforms such as Polygon have also gained traction. Bitcoin ranked 13th on the list, sharing the same place with Internet Computer, Optimism and BNB Chain.