Blockchain technology now sits at the forefront of global innovation. The power of blockchain’s decentralized ledgers is already transforming many industries, ranging from healthcare to finance, with new business verticals finding applications for it as well. With its newfound attention and use cases driving a scramble for businesses to integrate blockchain into their operations, the demand for blockchain developers continues to rise.
This rise in demand means the number of blockchain developers is growing as well—and at a global scale. Here, we’ll look at the landscape and growth of the technology around the world.
How many blockchain developers are there in the world? Here’s a closer look.
Historical Growth of Blockchain
Although blockchain development is now a term synonymous with decentralization and transparency in the modern world, its original release in 2008 along with Bitcoin as the distributed ledger behind its transactions was initially confusing to many.
The creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, introduced this type of monetary system as a response to the Global Financial Crisis in order to offer a decentralized currency outside of the realms of traditional banking systems. This introduction of cryptocurrency also marked the first release of blockchain as well.
In 2013, blockchain gained traction as a technology that could be applied to other niches and markets outside of Bitcoin. One of the most notable milestones for blockchain was the introduction of Ethereum by Vitalik Buterin in 2015.
This type of cryptocurrency showcased the fact that blockchains have the potential to run programming codes or “smart” contracts outside of Bitcoin’s singular focus on transactions. This helped broaden the horizon for decentralized applications and blockchain technology.
This led to the use of blockchain across various industries, ranging from the financial sector—which used the tech to explore decentralized finance platforms— to supply chains to help with traceability. The Initial Coin Offering boom of 2017 both showcased the potential of using blockchain in fundraising and brought regulatory scrutiny.
The significance of blockchain in 2023 remains undeniable. The tech’s growth from a Bitcoin-related tool to its own world-altering technology is just the start of further innovative applications of the future.
How Many Blockchain Developers Are There Worldwide
As the technology is still fairly new in a variety of industries, nailing down an exact number of blockchain developers is a bit difficult. However, recent studies show that, as of December 2022, the US has more than 23,000 monthly active developers in the blockchain space. That number is projected to reach 1 million by the year 2030.
Estimations in 2022 show that North America and Europe have a combined total of 58% of global blockchain devs, followed by 13% in Asia. India’s blockchain developer population grew the most consistently from 2% in 2017 to 6% in 2022. This increasing number of developers demonstrates the recognition of blockchain as a promising field as well as the widespread adoption of the technology.
Factors Influencing the Numbers
Many factors continue to influence the rising blockchain developer count. One of the most important factors is the opportunity for education. The proliferation of alternative learning options, such as independent online courses and coding boot camps, as well as university programs focused on blockchain education specifically, helped rapidly democratize access to education. Aspiring blockchain devs no longer need to only look to traditional learning routes to enhance their skills and instead learn at their own pace.
Technological advancements—in the blockchain ecosystem and beyond—also play a major role in developer activity worldwide. Platforms like Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum’s Solidity help lower the entry barrier to the niche as developer-friendly options. New frameworks and tools that simplify and accelerate the development process help encourage more and more developers to learn about blockchain technologies as well.
New and unique blockchain applications and platforms also help pique the interest of tech enthusiasts, all while creating more opportunities for developers. All of these factors combined contribute to a more diverse and innovative blockchain community while boosting the number of professionals involved and interested in the field.
Challenges in Quantifying Blockchain Developers
By nature, the tech industry remains highly fluid, which makes quantifying the exact number of blockchain developers in the world quite challenging. Developers frequently switch specialties and niches based on their own interests in technologies, as well as emerging trends. This makes it rather difficult to categorize a dev as simply a “blockchain developer.” Many developers have skills related to blockchain but work on many different types of projects, thus blurring classification lines further.
Quantifying the precise number of blockchain devs is also further complicated by the inability to differentiate between professional developers and hobbyists. The blockchain and cryptocurrency fields include many enthusiast developers who consider it a hobby or work with the technologies for personal projects. Their contributions, although valuable, aren’t necessarily professional and add to the ambiguity of the numbers. These factors combined with the global, decentralized nature of blockchain make it a fairly impossible task to pin down the exact number of developers specializing in the field.
Why the Need for Blockchain Developers?
The vast number of potential applications and unique characteristics of the technology continue to help increase the demand for blockchain devs. Blockchain operates on a decentralized framework, unlike traditional databases. This helps ensure better data integrity and eliminates any single points of failure. Along with its inherent security protocols, this decentralization demands specialized developer skills for proper implementation and navigation.
The general public still sees blockchain primarily as a cryptocurrency-adjacent technology, but in reality, blockchain’s utility extends far beyond this application. Supply chain management, for example, greatly benefits from utilizing blockchain because it offers transparent, tamper-proof tracking technology to ensure authenticity and build consumer trust. From real estate to entertainment, blockchain helps automate and execute agreements without the need for intermediaries.
Many other systems, such as digital identity systems, health records, and voting systems, utilize blockchain to transform their processes and procedures. The wide reach and diverse use cases of the technology, paired with the critical importance of decentralization and security in today’s world, mean that expertise in this technology only continues to increase in demand while keeping the potential of blockchain scalable and robust.
Unique Skill Set of Blockchain Developers
The intricate landscape of decentralized systems requires blockchain developers to pursue a specific skill set. This type of tech requires specific programming languages, especially Solidity for Ethereum-based apps, which makes learning these languages a must.
Devs must also understand tools like Truffle which help facilitate the blockchain development lifecycle from compilation through deployment. An understanding of cryptographic principles is also a crucial part of the blockchain developer tool kit due to the technology’s emphasis on data integrity and enhanced security within networks.
The development process of building a decentralized application also drastically diverges from traditional software development processes. Instead of functioning on a centralized server, decentralized apps function on a peer-to-peer network, which then means developers need to adopt a mindset of decentralization. This adds an extra layer of complexity to development and involves intricate details such as ensuring consensus across nodes, dealing with potential conflicts, and managing challenges related to scalability presented by blockchain platforms.
Blockchain devs must also know how to correctly engage with smart contracts. These automated scripts execute predefined actions after the meeting of conditions. This requires developers to have both precision and foresight to effectively avoid costly errors. Blockchain developers stand apart from the traditional software and web development community due to job requirements of not only coding expertise but also cryptographic knowledge and decentralized architecture know-how.
Growing Industries Powered by Blockchain
Blockchain is now a go-to technology for a wide array of business sectors, including:
- Finance – The finance industry introduced blockchain and remains the largest adopter of this technology. A 2021 Deloitte survey found that nearly 73% of respondents recognized and believed that their organization would lose its competitive advantage should it not adopt blockchain technology.
- Healthcare – According to estimations in reports from BIS Research, the global blockchain in the healthcare market will reach $5.61 billion by 2025.
- Real Estate – Blockchain’s transparency and immutable nature help simplify property transactions to make major, more secure changes in the real estate industry.
- Voting Systems – Blockchain helps promote more secure and transparent electoral processes.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology started a new revolution of decentralized systems that benefit a number of industries in a variety of ways. With its origins in cryptocurrency, the technology requires specialized developers and specific skill sets for correct development and implementation. As blockchain continues to evolve, the development community will continue to find new use cases and applications for this game-changing tech.
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out our other articles about Blockchain Technology:
- What’s Decentralized Finance (And Why You Should Care)
- What Are Governance Tokens and Do They Threaten the Whole Concept of Blockchain?
- Unlocking the Numbers: How Many Blockchain Developers Are There Worldwide?
- 11 Industries Blockchain Will Change Forever
- How IoT, AI and Blockchain Lead the Way Towards a Smarter Energy Sector
FAQs
How do we determine the number of blockchain developers?
Despite the explosion in blockchain services and the increasing interest from a variety of sectors, there isn’t currently a way to determine the exact number of blockchain developers due to a variety of factors, such as the presence of part time developers, or hobbyists engaging in the industry and using blockchain in other types of projects.
Are blockchain developers different from regular software developers?
Yes, blockchain developers are different from regular software developers. Although they share the foundational coding skills of regular software developers, the specialized languages, expertise in decentralized systems, and required knowledge of cryptographic principles set them apart from regular devs.
