Electric Capital Data Suggests Developers May Be Flocking to Ethereum; Solana Counts Could Be Underreported

• Ethereum led with 16,000+ new developers (Jan–Sep 2025)

• Solana added ~11,500 new developers; Bitcoin saw nearly 7,500 in the same period

• Ethereum ecosystem totals 31,869 active developers; Solana 17,708; Bitcoin 11,036 (Electric Capital)

Ethereum developer growth: 16,000+ new devs joined the ecosystem in 2025; Solana and Bitcoin follow. Read COINOTAG’s data-driven breakdown now. Details inside.

Published: 2025-10-17 | Updated: 2025-10-17 | Author/Organization: COINOTAG

New developer onboarding favors the Ethereum ecosystem, according to data compiled by Electric Capital and highlighted by the Ethereum Foundation. Between January and September 2025 more than 16,000 new developers began contributing to projects defined within the Ethereum ecosystem, which includes Ethereum layer-1 and associated layer-2 networks as categorized by L2Beat.

Solana ranked second in new developer additions with roughly 11,500 new contributors over the same period, while Bitcoin registered nearly 7,500 new developers. The raw figures are part of a broader developer-tracker analysis maintained by Electric Capital and cited by ecosystem organizations.

These figures place the Ethereum ecosystem as the largest active developer community across blockchains, with a total of 31,869 developers; Solana follows with 17,708 and Bitcoin with 11,036.

Notably, the Ethereum ecosystem count intentionally includes L2 networks such as Arbitrum, Unichain and Optimism (per L2Beat definitions) and aims to avoid double-counting developers who work across multiple networks within the same ecosystem.

Meanwhile, questions about methodology, grouping and possible underreporting have emerged from ecosystem stakeholders, prompting additional scrutiny of the numbers and their interpretation.

Magazine mention: Sorare CEO remains publicly bullish on Ethereum while also exploring Solana-based initiatives.

Cointelegraph-style outreach: Electric Capital did not provide a direct response by the time of reporting; this article references Electric Capital and official statements from foundation representatives as plain text sources.

Source: Ethereum Foundation

How many new developers joined the Ethereum ecosystem?

Ethereum developer growth is driven by more than 16,000 new developers who joined the Ethereum ecosystem between January and September 2025, according to Electric Capital data cited by the Ethereum Foundation. This inflow leaves Ethereum with an active developer base of 31,869, the largest among measured blockchain ecosystems.

Why did the Ethereum ecosystem show the largest developer base?

The Ethereum ecosystem benefits from an extended toolchain, broad layer-2 adoption and cross-project interoperability, which encourage developer reuse of skills and tooling. Electric Capital’s tracking aggregates activity across Ethereum layer‑1 and layer‑2 networks (as defined by L2Beat), and aims to exclude double-counting of multi-network contributors. Official counts from the Ethereum Foundation and Electric Capital form the basis for the totals reported.

Why is Solana seeing faster developer growth?

Solana recorded a faster growth rate over one and two years — a reported 29.1% year-over-year increase and 61.7% over two years in full-time developers per Electric Capital’s tracker. However, Solana Foundation head of developer relations, Jacob Creech, has said the dataset may undercount Solana by roughly 7,800 developers and that direct GitHub repo submissions to Solana crawlers are needed for more accurate measurement. Observers also note grouping differences: some EVM-compatible chains are combined while others are counted separately, which can distort cross-chain comparisons. Nethermind founder Tomasz K. Stańczak has argued that EVM chains should be considered together because developers can reuse most EVM tooling across Polygon, BNB and similar chains.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Electric Capital measure new crypto developers?

Electric Capital tracks developer activity primarily through public code repositories and contributor metrics, categorizing work by chain and project. The methodology accounts for active contributors across repositories, with adjustments to avoid double-counting developers who contribute to multiple projects within the same ecosystem.

Are AI tools and hackathons inflating developer counts?

Some industry professionals, including Jarrod Watts of Abstract, believe AI-generated code and one-off hackathon repositories may artificially raise the apparent number of new developers. This view suggests the headline numbers could include short-lived or automated contributions rather than sustained developer engagement.

Key Takeaways

• Ethereum leads developer onboarding: More than 16,000 new developers joined Ethereum between Jan–Sep 2025, contributing to a total active base of 31,869.
• Solana’s rapid growth: Solana shows stronger percentage growth rates, but some stakeholders claim the chain is undercounted by existing trackers.
• Methodology matters: Grouping of EVM-compatible chains, inclusion criteria for layer-2s and potential AI/hackathon noise all affect reported developer totals; source data comes from Electric Capital, Ethereum Foundation, Solana Foundation and L2Beat (all referenced as plain text).

Conclusion

Electric Capital’s recent developer tracker places Ethereum developer growth at the forefront of the industry, with more than 16,000 new contributors in the first nine months of 2025 and a cumulative ecosystem of 31,869 developers. Solana’s faster percentage growth and claims of undercounting highlight the importance of transparent methodology. Continued repo-level validation and standardization across trackers will be necessary to refine these figures; COINOTAG will monitor updates and official revisions as they are published.