At this point, virtually everyone is familiar with Bitcoin, and many others have likely at least heard of Ethereum or even Solana. However, thousands of cryptocurrencies are on the market, and people spend considerable time and effort determining which ones to invest in and support. One of the essential metrics people look at in assessing the potential of a crypto project is developer count. The premise is that the more talent a project has behind it, the more likely it is to achieve success and traction in the vast crypto marketplace.
So which cryptocurrencies have the most developers behind them? Let’s take a look.
#5: Bitcoin
Bitcoin is, of course, the original cryptocurrency with the highest market value in the space. There are about 700 Bitcoin developers. And some of the most well-known companies in crypto help fund Bitcoin’s development. Including companies such as Coinbase, Gemini, and the Jack Dorsey-led Block (formerly known as Square).
#4: Solana
Solana is the cryptocurrency sometimes referred to as an “Ethereum killer” because of its ability to process transactions at a faster rate and lower cost. For example, Solana can process 65,000 transactions per second, whereas Ethereum can only currently transact 30 per second. Solana was launched about five years after Ethereum, but it is growing faster than Ethereum. As a result, Solana has attracted a good deal of talent and interest from investors. Solana currently has about 1,000 developers.
#3 Cosmos
Cosmos may be unfamiliar to those who do not closely follow the cryptocurrency market. Cosmos has approximately the same number of developers as Solana. However, Cosmos is not exactly a competitor to Ethereum or Solana. Instead, it provides open-source tools for developers to create their own interoperable blockchains. Cosmos also has a token called ATOM.
#2 Polkadot
The co-founder of Ethereum, Dr. Gavin Wood, created Polkadot after he grew frustrated with Ethereum’s approach. Polkadot’s goal is to serve as a base-layer blockchain that could combine multiple other chains and serve as a bridge to the various possibilities of Web3. Polkadot is currently the eleventh most valuable cryptocurrency and has about 1,500 developers.
#1 Ethereum
Launched in 2015, Ethereum is easily the second most well-known cryptocurrency and the second most valuable. However, Ethereum has by far the most developers in the cryptocurrency space, with over 4,000. Ethereum is also the blockchain layer for numerous other cryptocurrencies and the vast majority of NFTs. However, as demonstrated above, Ethereum is no longer the sole major player in smart contracts and Web3 development. Ethereum’s competitors are gaining traction, and it is yet to be seen if Ethereum can maintain its dominant market position.
Ashton Cohen is an attorney, investor, writer, and host of Ashton Cohen: The ELECTile Dysfunction Podcast.
