India’s share of the global pool of Web3 developers has increased from 3 per cent in 2018 to 12 per cent in 2023, and India has the highest share of Web3 developers among the emerging markets, according to a report by Hashed Emergent, a web3 venture capital firm.

The Web3 developer ecosystem remains relatively young, with more than 50 per cent of developers joining in the past two years. Female participation has also seen a rise, increasing from 3 to 14 per cent over the past five years.

Ethereum remains the preferred blockchain for Infrastructure/DeFi projects, while Solana and Polygon are gaining popularity in consumer-focused sectors like gaming and social platforms. Gaming and NFTs emerged as the top use cases, accounting for 32 per cent of developers, followed by DeFi and RWAs at 21 per cent.

Hackathons are the primary entry point into the ecosystem, complemented by various platforms and communities that enable developers to engage and enhance their skills.

Tak Lee, CEO & Managing Partner of Hashed Emergent, stated, “The findings of our second edition flagship report underscore India’s remarkable ascent in web3 adoption and shows that it is on a trajectory to become the global leader. With a large economy, skilled tech talent pool, and favorable demographics, the right conditions exist for a thriving Indian web3 sector full of innovation and opportunity.”

The report also noted that India has claimed the top spot for on-chain adoption in 2023 among 150 countries, with more than 35 million trading accounts on the top Indian exchanges. India now ranks in the top 5 in peer-to-peer (P2P) trading volume. Notably, 75 per cent of Indian centralized exchanges (CEX) users are under 35, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) emerging as the most favoured assets among Indian traders.

Further, India has one of the largest Web3 ecosystems in the world, boasting 1,000 start-ups. The sector received $250 million of investment in 2023, which was a decline from the total funding in 2022, but the number of deals has stayed flat, showing sustained interest in early-stage Web3 start-ups. The report said there has been an increase in funding of start-ups in Web3 subsectors of finance, entertainment, and infrastructure.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW