Blockchain developers show resilience in face of crypto winter
Data from Web3 developer backend Alchemy reveals that, regardless of the final chapter of the crypto winter, developers continue in their efforts to deploy decentralized applications (dapps).
According to the company’s Q1 2023 Developer Report, developers installed 1.9 million Ethereum SDKs per week on average, a 47 percent increase year over year. Furthermore, since Q1 2022, 788% more wallet SDKs have been deployed – an all-time high for installing wallet infrastructure.
Also read, What is Crypto Winter?
Although the trading value of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) fell 82% year-over-year, it has risen 126% since Q4 2022.
In the case of decentralized finance (DeFi), trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX) is down 38% since Q1 2022, but is picking up in the new year, having increased 43% since December 2022.
Not only has Ethereum seen new heights in developer activity. Developers on Polygon’s sidechain and layer-2 network Arbitrum and Optimism deployed 160% more smart contracts year-over-year, driven in part by their eagerness to create both the Ethereum scaling protocol zkSync 2.0 and Polygon’s zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM)
According to Jason Shah, head of growth at Alchemy, despite the fact that the crypto winter has been long and difficult for many Web3 developers, there is still an incentive to stick around when the market returns to its previous levels.
In Shah’s words, surviving a crypto bear market is not easy, and the longer it lasts, the harder it can be.
He stated that most of the builders in the space are there for the technology and that more individuals are looking forward to a return in more top-line metrics like prices, in addition to many new projects being released and new funding coming into the space.
While the last quarter has shown potential in the crypto space, it has been difficult for several businesses to not only hold their money, but also operate with security as expected.
The recent failures of Signature Bank, Silvergate Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, as well as concerns about the US regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency, do not bode well for the future of Web3.
While events have changed public perceptions of the space, developers have remained “resilient” in pursuit of blockchain-based products and services.
Shah further stated that there is a strong resilience despite the harsh conditions of crypto development.
He concluded that during the market’s more euphoric periods, there is a sense of frenetic urgency and an unbridled positive outlook.
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