Ethereum's Brainpower Skyrocketed by 2,100% in 5 Years, Signaling a Promising Development

The brainpower behind Ethereum development skyrocketed by over 2,100% during the past five years, flashing a positive sign for the world's second-largest blockchain network.

The brainpower behind Ethereum development has increased by over 2,100% during the past five years, as reported by Electric Capital engineer Emre Caliskan in an Aug. 29 X post.

The number of researchers working on the Ethereum network has grown from around 25 in the first quarter of 2019 to a peak of around 550 in the first quarter of 2024. This increase is directly correlated to the number of individual researchers contributing to the protocol.

While the number of researchers saw a minor decline to around 450 developers in the second quarter of 2024, the brainpower remains strong behind the world’s first smart contract network.

Emre Caliskan's post highlights the impressive growth in Ethereum development brainpower. Source: Emre Caliskan/X Post

The growth in Ethereum developers is also evident in the Developer Report data, which shows that Ethereum remains the leading blockchain by monthly active developers, with a total of 2,788 full-time developers and over 8.865 total developers as of July 1.

Coinbase’s Base blockchain is in second place, with 889 full-time developers and 3,991 total developers. However, Ethereum saw a 10% decline in yearly developers, while Base saw a 14% increase.

In terms of contract deployers, who are developers creating and testing smart contracts, Ethereum is only in sixth place, with 127,702 monthly contract deployers, while Base is in first place, with over 862,000 contract deployers, according to Token Terminal data.

The increase in Ethereum development brainpower has coincided with a strong rally in the price of Ether (ETH). Over the past five years, ETH has seen an over 1,200% increase in price.

Ether price rallied 1,200% during the past 5 years, but ETH subdued under critical $2.7k

As of Aug. 30, 2019, Ether was trading at $168, according to Coinbase data. At the time of writing on Aug. 31, 11:51 am UTC, ETH was trading at above $2,509, showing an increase of over 1,245%.

This means that a $1,000 investment into Ether five years ago would be worth over $14,900 at today’s valuation.

Despite the bullish long-term momentum, Ether’s price remains trapped under the crucial $2,700 resistance, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at Nansen.

The analyst told Cointelegraph:

“The critical level for ETH is still $2,700. We have seen some resistance at this level, and the market has been consolidating for a while now. If ETH can break above $2,700, it could quickly move up to $3,000.”

Other analysts are eying an Ether rally to above $3,000, but it could take until October to see a bullish breakout.