While the crypto markets experience a rough start to the new year, several competitors of leading smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH) are moving full steam ahead.
In a new annual developer report, early-stage venture firm Electric Capital says that although Ethereum’s rapid growth continues, a handful of up-and-coming blockchain projects are rising at an unprecedented pace.
“Polkadot, Solana, NEAR, BSC [Binance Smart Chain], Avalanche, and Terra are growing faster than Ethereum did at similar points in its history.”
Layer-1 blockchain protocol Solana (SOL) is coming off a breakout year where it leaped from under $2 to an all-time high near $260 back in November. The altcoin is currently valued at $147.65.
Cross-chain interoperability protocol Polkadot (DOT) also went on a big run in 2021. DOT surged from under $10 to as high as $54.98 in early November and is currently trading for $26.42.
Terra (LUNA), the 10th-ranked crypto asset, roared from under a dollar to above $20 during the first half of 2021, then after a market-wide correction began a steady series of upward movements, pulling nearly a 10x from July to today’s value of $76.57.
Electric Capital co-founder Avichal Garg took to Twitter to share key data about growth in full-time monthly developers, noting that Terra jumped by 313% and Solana was a close second at 307%.
Garg also calls attention to Ethereum’s growth. He says,
“Ethereum grew +42% in total devs, +24% in full time devs. ~700 new devs contribute to the Ethereum ecosystem every month.”
The co-founder also provides a chart chronicling Polkadot’s 66.6% growth in comparison to Ethereum from 2020 to 2021.
At time of writing, number-two cryptocurrency Ethereum is down 3.87% on the day to $3,403.
You can read the full Electric Capital report here.
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