Asia takes top spot for crypto developers, US declines

As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech industry, I’ve witnessed the rise and fall of numerous trends. The recent shift in cryptocurrency and blockchain development talent from North America to Asia is an intriguing development that I find myself closely observing.


According to a recent study, it’s now Asia that stands at the forefront in terms of skill and expertise in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, surpassing North America.

In 2024, the proportion of cryptocurrency developers based in Asia increased significantly, rising from 13% in 2015, to now account for a staggering 32%. This has positioned Asia as the leading hub for cryptocurrency development expertise.

During this specific timeframe, the proportion of developers originating from North America decreased significantly, falling from 44% in 2015 down to 24%. This is as reported by Maria Shen, a general partner at Electric Capital, in her October 30 blog post.

“Asia is now #1 for crypto devs. The US is losing market share. Crypto impacts every state in the US – crypto should be non-partisan.”

The location where most crypto developers are found usually points towards areas likely to lead in future advancements of blockchain technology. As the number of developers in a particular region grows, it’s a promising sign that blockchain technology will become more widespread, as it implies an expansion of everyday consumer applications built on blockchain.

The US still leads in total crypto developers

Although a majority (81%) of blockchain developers are currently based outside the U.S., it remains home to the largest number of such developers worldwide.

Nearly one out of every five crypto developers is situated in the U.S., while India comes in second with around one out of nine, and the UK claims about one out of twenty-four spots.

Contrary to the overall expansion of the industry, the proportion of developers in the U.S. has significantly decreased by more than 51% since 2015.

Approximately one out of every five developers in the United States calls California home, and about one out of seven are based in New York. However, a significant majority—around 64%—of U.S. developers can be found living elsewhere outside these two states.

Researchers examined more than 200 million transactions related to cryptocurrency in about 350,000 different projects on GitHub. They gathered geographic information from approximately 110,000 developers who willingly provided their location details associated with their digital wallets.

As an analyst, I’ve noticed a significant surge in institutional interest towards cryptocurrencies across Asia, particularly in South Korea. The number of crypto investors increased by approximately 21% by the second half of 2024, leading to a remarkable growth in cumulative operational profits for the top 21 local centralized exchanges (CEXs). This surge propelled their collective profits above $4.2 billion, representing a substantial year-on-year increase of 106%.

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2024-10-31 15:37