Ethereum has solidified its position as the leading blockchain for developer activity, adding over 16,000 new developers between January and September 2025. This remarkable growth underscores Ethereum’s ongoing appeal and robust ecosystem, which now boasts a total of 31,869 active developers working across its core network and layer-2 solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism.
The data, sourced from Electric Capital’s developer tracker, highlights Ethereum’s sustained year-over-year growth of 5.8%. This increase can be attributed to the network’s consistency, regulatory clarity, and the extensive tooling infrastructure that makes integration straightforward for new developers. The Ethereum Foundation has praised its vibrant community for fostering this influx of contributors, particularly noting that Ethereum accounts for over 75% of blockchain transactions in Latin America, reflecting a global trend of developers migrating to Ethereum’s stable environment.
In contrast, Solana has emerged as the second most popular blockchain for developers, attracting approximately 11,500 new contributors in 2025. However, the Solana Foundation has raised concerns about the accuracy of these figures, claiming that many developers are unaccounted for in the dataset. Jacob Creech from the Solana Foundation indicated that about 7,800 developers are missing from the current statistics. Despite these discrepancies, Solana reported a total of 17,708 active developers by September 2025, marking a 29.1% increase from the previous year and a striking 61.7% growth over the past two years.
Solana’s fast execution times and scalable infrastructure have been key factors in its ability to attract new developers, although there are ongoing discussions about improving the metrics used to track developer activity. The Solana Foundation has encouraged its community to enhance the quality of GitHub submissions to provide a more accurate representation of its active developer base.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has also seen a steady influx of developers, with around 7,500 new contributors joining between January and September 2025. This brings Bitcoin’s total active developer count to 11,036, placing it third among major blockchain ecosystems. However, Bitcoin’s growth remains slower compared to the more adaptable platforms like Ethereum and Solana. The limitations in Bitcoin’s smart contract capabilities have resulted in a less dynamic development environment, leading many developers to gravitate towards blockchains that offer more programmable features.
As Ethereum continues to lead the charge in developer engagement, the competition from Solana and Bitcoin highlights the diverse landscape of blockchain development. With each platform vying for innovation and community support, the coming years will be crucial in determining how these ecosystems evolve and adapt to the ever-changing demands of the blockchain space.
