Decline in Blockchain Developer Activity | Ronald Aparajit | 49 comments
Came across this article on the reasons why blockchain developer activity Plunged in 2025—and my takes on how the ecosystem can bounce back after being in the industry for few years now.
Key take-aways
Blockchain has lost ~40 % of its active developers in the past 12 months—weekly contributors fell from about 12 000 in April 2024 to ~7 300 in March 2025, briefly dipping below 5 300 last December.
Declines are broad-based but uneven:
Ethereum still dominates even after a drop in active devs and a fall in commits yoy.
Solana Foundation also posted double-digit slides, mirroring a wider market slowdown.
The “resilient core” remains: despite the slump, the ecosystem still counts 6-7k weekly devs—well above 2020 bear-market lows, hinting at a more mature, committed base.
VCs have rotated to AI (not that we are surprised 😅 ): Q1 2025 crypto funding hit $4.8 bn, the best quarter since Q3 2022—yet AI startups pulled in nearly $20 bn over the same period.
Why VCs cooled on crypto: disappointing 2021-22 returns, market saturation, tougher token-exit liquidity, and lingering regulatory fog have pushed risk capital elsewhere.
Why builders are leaving: incentives favor speculation over utility, on-chain activity feels thin, AI offers fresh challenges, and many 2021-era projects have matured or died. Optimism contributor Binji calls the space “rife with narrative-led development.”
Green shoots: analysts project crypto VC could rebound to $18 bn in 2025; Q1’s funding surge, growing institutional participation, and a pivot from infrastructure to real-world apps could reignite developer interest.
What needs to change: shift focus to genuine utility, adopt sustainable funding models, strengthen builder support/education, and embrace longer time horizons - moving from narrative-led to development-led growth.
At Ancient8, we have already jump-started “build-first” growth in Southeast Asia by pairing a 200k OP grants program with our Superchain SEA Hub—bundling funding, mentorship, and a ready-made community gateway so new projects can launch on the Optimism Superchain with speed and local support.
https://lnkd.in/gVjHbF6m | 49 comments on LinkedIn
