US position in cryptocurrency development is rapidly weakening

Electric Capital’s team researched more than 110 thousand developer profiles to study the geographical distribution of cryptocurrency specialists, which revealed important changes in the structure of the industry. For the first time, Asia came in 1st place in terms of the number of cryptocurrency developers. It surpassed North America, where the position had weakened significantly.

The share of developers in this region fell from 44% in 2015 to 24% in 2024, while the figures in Asia grew from 13% to 32%. These changes emphasize the growing role of Asian countries in shaping the future of digital money, which may affect the position of the United States in this area. At the same time, the United States remains the leader among countries in terms of the number of crypto developers, with a share of 18.8%, followed by India (11.8%) and the United Kingdom (4.2%).

However, 81% of digital currency professionals are located outside of the United States, raising issues of national security and innovation churn for the country. Over the past 9 years, the U.S. share of cryptocurrency development has declined by 51% despite market capitalization growing from $5 billion to $2.4 trillion. Regulatory issues in the United States seem to have played a role.

The analysis also showed that cryptocurrency developers do not only reside in traditional US tech centers such as California and New York. About 64% of them live outside of these regions, which forms opportunities for job creation and wealth creation in other states.

According to analysts, the US needs clear regulation of cryptocurrencies to maintain its leadership and prevent further outflow of professionals. Digital assets bring economic benefits, and the lack of a consistent policy puts the country at risk of falling behind the global market, where blockchain and digital assets are actively developing.