The following is a guest post from Sunny Lu, the CEO of Vechain.
Web3 builders are the beating heart of the blockchain industry. Without them, this technology would not be the disruptive tech engine it is in 2023. While there are more monthly active developers today than before 2021, we saw a 27% decrease in the number of developers between now and October last year, and newcomer retention has also been low.
There are likely several factors driving this trend, including proficiency in the blockchain programming language lack of funding in space, as well as a lack of simple, intuitive tools that abstract the blockchain experience into something more reminiscent of Web2. There is also another piece missing from the puzzle: education around sustainable development.
Not only must we deliver decentralized technologies that improve data reliability and resilience, but we must also teach developers how to build sustainably. To ensure the longevity of their participation and the blockchain industry, and enable a sustainable, decentralized future, it is critical that we demonstrate value in the real world. How can we, as an industry, motivate people to act individually and still ensure that their efforts achieve greater goals?
Through blockchain, we are building new ecosystems that encourage and enable collective action on a whole new scale, and have tangible impact on issues such as sustainability. Through blockchain we can derive new forms of value from the actions that individuals take, by using their metadata, for example by choosing one fashion retailer over another based on the sustainable reuse of recycled materials.
With this mission in mind, we’re starting to see the onboarding successes of Web3 developers as a collective victory, for both blockchain and a new kind of digital economy. These builders will unleash a new wave of blockchain-based impacts in the real world, encouraging and motivating participation in Web3 ecosystems.
It is imperative that blockchain leaders – especially those at the forefront of layer 1 protocols – can give developers the tools, support, guidance, and ultimately the vision to solve these challenges.
Demonstration: the best education
Web3 Projects has consistently and successfully collaborated with developers over the years by hosting hackathons where potential developers can learn more about existing Layer 1 protocols and how to build on them. Offering innovative tools at hackathons, such as those that enable the seamless deployment of customizable smart contracts without coding knowledge, are crucial cogs in the survival of this industry.
Hackathons have proven to be a powerful but often overlooked catalyst for success. For example, if you look at Web2 examples, Techstars Startup Weekend hackathons played a crucial role in the creation of unicorns such as Rover and Pillpack. Furthermore, the founding and success story of Twitter (now These examples highlight the transformative potential of the humble hackathon in advancing the production of innovative applications in the real world.
While hackathons are important for empowering developers, they can also provide a valuable secondary function: as a touchpoint for sustainable development education. At these events, there should be a role for industry leaders to encourage the development of sustainability applications through the provision of green infrastructure, construction tracks and assessment criteria.
For example, Tier 1s using alternative, greener consensus mechanisms must make a concerted effort in allocating sufficient funds and resources to host these events. Industry visibility of greener Tier 1s is just the first step. Facilitating educational networking events for developers by these Layer 1s is the most important thing.
From work, to ring, to authority
While Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems have been praised and spotlighted for their energy efficiency when compared to early Proof-of-Work (PoW) networks, more attention still needs to be paid to others, even greener consensus mechanisms such as the Gossip Protocol. , Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) and Proof-of-Authority (PoA).
PoA systems work by allowing machines to earn the right to generate new blocks after passing an initial, strict vetting process. The PoA consensus mechanism is based on a smaller number of pre-approved block validators, which not only makes it scalable, but also positions it as a more energy-efficient alternative to PoS systems, due to its lower computing power requirements.
While well-known layer 1s such as Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos and Bitcoin continue to house the most monthly activity developers, we blockchain leaders must take responsibility for diversifying the space by educating Web3-curious developers about the alternative ecosystems they can build into. In response to the carbon impact of the blockchain industry in 2021, sustainable development should be central when choosing an application development network. Some alternative systems to the ones I just mentioned are now so energy efficient that their annual carbon footprint is equal to that of almost one gasoline-powered passenger car driven for a year.
The result: impactful, sustainable applications in the real world
The result of the support, funding, tooling, and inspiration of the next generation of builders finally achieves our collective goal: onboarding the next billion Web2 users. By building truly useful, rewarding and engaging Web3 applications that effectively fit modern lifestyles, it’s not a matter of if, but when we reach those numbers.
This effort will be collaborative, with multiple layers 1 leading the opportunity. In turn, we are unleashing an information revolution, restoring the idea of value and empowering individuals and businesses to sit at the same table in transparent, collaborative ecosystems. Companies that use blockchain ecosystems to transparently share product and sustainability information will naturally benefit from increased public trust, and therefore market share, for their products.
By building effective foundations today, we enable the self-sustaining Web3 ecosystems of tomorrow. This is a viable and sustainable approach to driving Web3’s future, and we look forward to building it further with the leaders who join our mission.