Ethereum’s layer-2 scaling solutions, Starknet and zkSync, have shown resilience in the face of declining developer counts within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. According to an updated developer report by Electric Capital, these two platforms have actually increased their total monthly active developer counts over the past 12 months. While Starknet and zkSync only recorded modest increases of 3% and 6%, respectively, popular platforms like Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana saw their developer counts fall by 23%, 43%, and 57% during the same timeframe.
The overall trend in the developer community has been downward, with a decrease of 27.7% in total monthly active developers from 26,701 to 19,279. This decline reflects the cyclical nature of the developer market, where newcomers tend to dominate during bull markets but decrease in numbers when prices plummet.
In this context, the growth of Starknet and zkSync is noteworthy. StarkWare’s Starknet and Matter Labs’ zkSync are layer 2 solutions designed to scale Ethereum through zero-knowledge rollups, which have become a focal point in 2023. These solutions aim to address the scalability issues faced by Ethereum by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and improving transaction per second (TPS) capabilities.
Starknet’s recent focus has been on its “Quantum Leap,” which went live in July. This update theoretically increases Ethereum’s TPS from around 13-15 to 37 TPS consistently and up to 90 TPS in certain cases. Starknet has also been working on zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) solutions to further scale Ethereum throughout 2023.
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Similarly, zkSync has been working on zero-knowledge tech stack solutions, including the development of a network of “hyperchains.” These hyperchains aim to create an ecosystem of interoperable protocols and sovereign chains. The solution was unveiled in June, and zkSync hopes to have a working version by the end of 2023.
While both Starknet and zkSync have seen growth in their developer counts, it’s important to note that their total monthly active developers are still lower than other platforms like Chainlink, Stellar, Aztec Protocol, and Ripple. However, the increase in developer counts suggests that these layer-2 scaling solutions are gaining traction and attracting developer interest.
Electric Capital gathers its data from code repositories and code commits on the open-source developer platform GitHub. This data provides valuable insights into the developer community’s trends and can help identify shifts in developer preferences and priorities.
In conclusion, while the cryptocurrency ecosystem has experienced a decline in developer counts over the past year, Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions Starknet and zkSync have bucked the trend with slight increases in their total monthly active developers. These platforms have focused on zero-knowledge rollups and zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine solutions, offering potential scalability improvements for Ethereum. As the cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to evolve, monitoring developer activity is crucial for understanding the progress and innovations within the industry.
