🇨🇳 Trump Pauses 'Reciprocal' Tariffs for All Countries Except China. President Trump has shifted his trade war from America vs. the world, to the U.S. vs. China.
🇦🇷 Argentina’s Congress Opens Investigation Into Milei's LIBRA Scandal. Lawmakers in Argentina are opening a probe into President Javier Milei's promotion of the LIBRA cryptocurrency.
🥷 Solana Devs Introduce ZK-Powered 'Confidential Balance' Token Standard. The newly introduced standard from Helius will allow users to shield balances and token transfers.
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Daily Market Snapshot: Trump blinked in his global game of tariff chicken, announcing a 90-day pause of global tariffs while doubling down on a tariff showdown with China. Crypto markets skyrocketed, with ETH pumping 13% and BTC pushing back above $83K.
While Crypto's prices are beginning to see some relief today after a sudden reversal in Trump's tariff plans, it's no secret that the industry is facing some headwinds despite the recent regulatory love fest.
Namely, the space is struggling to retain its builder talent.
This conversation has been bubbling up for months but saw renewed attention this week following this tweet from @binji_x, which highlighted a concerning developer activity chart sourced from Artemis & Electric Capital.
The chart Binji shared was simple but loud: developer activity across crypto is down – and not just by a little.
Weekly commits have dropped nearly 40% since their 2022 peak. New and emerging developers, the lifeblood of any thriving ecosystem, are leaving. Electric Capital's Developer Report shows a 7% year-over-year drop in active devs.
And people are finally starting to ask the right question: Where did the builders go?
Some of the answers are right in front of us.
AI is surging and developers are following the energy. ChatGPT launched in late 2022, right around the same time you see developer activity decreasing in the charts above.
In 2024, GitHub reported a 98% year-over-year increase in the number of generative AI projects hosted on its platform and a 70% increase in AI-related GitHub repositories from 2023 to 2024; 25% of active GitHub developers worked on AI in 2024, up from 18% in 2023.
And crypto is… falling behind.
Yes, many of the best crypto developers shifted their focus to Crypto x AI, but many also left to go full-time on AI. According to JetBrains' 2024 developer report, 18% mentioned developing apps that integrate AI, compared to just 3% mentioning the blockchain.
Maybe they’ll incorporate crypto into their AI apps someday. Maybe they won’t.
What’s clear is that venture capital followed suit. It didn’t disappear; it either doubled down on infra or shifted to AI. In 2024, over $5.5B flowed into crypto infrastructure – a record high – while funding for the application layer has flatlined. Worse, the systems meant to support devs, like grants, have become punchlines. People game the system while real builders burn out.
Meanwhile, some claim the developer exodus betrays a lack of community investment in app layer developers that prioritize onboarding real users.
The Ethereum community abandoned the app layer and in doing so, abandoned a lot support for devs
That's my biggest takeaway from this cycle and it *must* be improved https://t.co/1xbUZ8tW8V
Meanwhile, Crypto's culture can feel hostile to builders focused on the long game. Speculation often feels as though it is outrunning substance. Memecoins can get millions in minutes, while meaningful apps seem to struggle to get a tweet. Engagement farming is rewarded, and skepticism often seems to be punished. Building in public has never felt riskier, not because of the tech but because of the crowd.
Yet, in all of this, there are still plenty of bright spots.
Globally, adoption is decentralizing. Asia is now the #1 continent by developer share. India onboarded the most new crypto developers in 2024. Solana led in attracting new devs – up 83% year-over-year. Base now drives 42% of all new code written in the Ethereum ecosystem. And one in three developers now works across multiple chains – a sign that composability and curiosity are alive.
There’s also a quiet but important shift happening on the regulatory front. In the U.S., real momentum is building behind a few key bills that could finally bring clarity to how digital assets are treated. And it might be coming sooner than we think.
Regulatory clarity doesn’t just de-risk projects; it unlocks capital. Top venture firms already have a presence in D.C., and once the fog lifts, they’ll be ready to deploy. With rules in place, hiring could pick up again, especially for U.S.-based teams that have been hesitant to build in the open.
This isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a meaningful tailwind that could bring the spotlight back to actual products and real users.
Speaking of which, Crypto, of course, continues to host a flock of builders that are shipping cool stuff that showcases genuine promise. Not long before seeing @binji_x's thread, I was reading through the latest developments from builders on Farcaster. There are still plenty of advances in user-centric experiences out there to discover.
I made a 5 min video sharing what Farcaster mini apps are and why build them! Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to reach out if you’re interested in building one! pic.twitter.com/1QPmMaveq6
All of this matters; because the next wave of crypto will include token pumps but it won’t be built upon it. It’ll come from tools, apps, and protocols that solve problems and feel good to use. These experiences will bring real people onchain and keep them there.
Adoption isn’t inevitable. It’s earned the hard way. The builders didn’t disappear. They just moved where the building feels real.
We don’t just need more devs. We need real support systems, more opinionated ecosystems, and a more builder-first culture. Less vibes, more users.
The Fraxtal ecosystem is expanding at lightning speed—this month’s biggest highlight is IQAI.com, the newest Agent Tokenization platform from IQ and Frax. IQ is building autonomous, intelligent, tokenized agents launching on Fraxtal in Q1. Empower on-chain agents with built-in wallets, tokenized ownership, and decentralized governance—all within a fast-growing Fraxtal ecosystem.
Not financial or tax advice. Bankless content is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time to time, we may add links in this newsletter to products we use. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless team holds crypto assets.
