Solana Surpasses Ethereum in New Developer Onboarding for 2024

Solana has become the leading blockchain for new developers in 2024, with an 83% increase in developer onboarding compared to last year.

A report by venture capital firm Electric Capital found that 7,625 of 39,148 new developers this year headed to Solana, surpassing Ethereum, which onboarded 6,456 new developers. This marks the first time Solana has outpaced Ethereum in new developer adoption since 2016.

The overall surge in new developers, up by 39% annually since Ethereum's 2015 launch, underscores the growing interest in blockchain innovation. Solana's rise to become the top choice for first-time developers reflects its user-friendly architecture, low transaction costs, and active community support, experts say.

“Solana’s popularity boils down to being fast, cheap, and scalable,” Arthur Azizov, the CEO of B2BINPAY, said. “Unlike Ethereum, where transaction fees can spike to $6–8, Solana typically costs between $0.003 and $0.03 per transaction.”

Another factor that likely drove new developers to Solana is a preference for the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) over other execution environments, including the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

“Thanks to its advanced architecture and parallel transaction processing capabilities, SVM has leapfrogged other virtual machines, including EVM, in both efficiency and speed,” said Vijay Pravin, the founder and CEO of bitsCrunch. “Solana has also been a leading force when it comes to memecoins and autonomously transacting AI agents in recent months.”

Despite Solana's growth in new developers, Ethereum continues to lead by overall developer activity, remaining dominant in countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and China.

Developers Flee North America

The report further found that Asia now leads in developer share, overtaking North America, which dropped from first to third.

The United States, while still the top country with 19% of the developer share, has seen its share fall from 38% in 2015. India emerged as the leader in onboarding the most new crypto developers in 2024.

The U.S. developer share is steadily declining as regulators intensify their crackdown on the industry, The Defiant reported in November. Analysts like Nic Carter have criticized the Biden administration’s actions, alleging that efforts to stifle the sector—dubbed Operation Chokepoint 2.0—are contributing to this decline.