Solana’s native SOL token was one of the best-performing crypto assets in 2023. The developer ecosystem of the Layer 1 network also showed consistent growth during the same period.
In the same timeframe, the Solana ecosystem saw a notable increase in developer retention, jumping from 31% to more than 50% within a three-month timeframe. This improved retention was attributed to several factors, including advancements in developer onboarding, the growing appeal of the Solana blockchain among developers, and an increase in opportunities within the ecosystem.
Solana Ecosystem Sees Surge in Developer Retention
In a recent report, the Solana Foundation revealed that the assessment of retention rates specifically targeted developers who consistently made at least one commitment over three consecutive months. Moreover, 400-500 Solana developers, having completed various boot camps, entered the ecosystem every six months, leading to a remarkable 500% growth in job listings over the year.
According to GitHub data, the improved retention rate resulted in a steady monthly active developer count, fluctuating between 2,500 and 3,000 within the Solana ecosystem throughout 2023. The foundation said that progress in tooling for various programming languages and the introduction of additional educational resources proved to help drive this positive trend.
However, they also acknowledged potential areas for improvement, particularly in areas such as testing and debugging.
Despite being relatively new, with the Solana mainnet beta going live in March 2020, the report also claimed that the Solana ecosystem has rapidly expanded to become the second-largest in terms of total monthly active developers.
“This growth is due to many different factors and it is hard to pinpoint what led to the majority of developers joining. Since the launch of mainnet beta, the Solana Foundation has either run or funded a variety of initiatives with the core objective of growing the developer ecosystem.”
Increasing Popularity
Solana had a rough start to the year due to its association with the FTX collapse, which dragged the value of the SOL token into a massive downward spiral. The asset grew by over 800% in the past year and strengthened its position as the fifth-largest crypto asset by market cap.
The Solana ecosystem saw an impressive recovery during the last months of 2023. Solana-related investment products also posted strong performance, attracting net inflows totaling $167 million, while Ethereum trailed behind with a comparatively modest $78 million.
Solana’s searches on Google surpassed those for Ethereum in December, gaining the most popularity in Spain and the Philippines.
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