In the fast-moving world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, there has been an unprecedented boom in smart contract deployments on Ethereum ETH -0.15% and related blockchains, surging 12-fold over the past year, according to a recent report from Alchemy.
The report noted that the cryptocurrency landscape has changed, largely driven by the emergence of layer 2 blockchains such as Arbitrum and Optimism. These innovative platforms have dramatically reduced the costs associated with using smart contract platforms, resulting in a sharp rise in smart contract deployments.
While the report does highlight the decline in the number of active developers in the space, it also reveals an interesting development: developers who remain active are more productive than ever, producing more smart contracts than before. This suggests a pattern of increased efficiency and specialization among developers involved in smart contract creation as they navigate the complexities of the rapidly evolving blockchain space.
Additionally, the report revealed a significant increase in the number of user-friendly crypto wallets, which the report said increased by more than 1,200 percent, or 13 times, in July alone. In an exciting development, the smart contract technology-based wallet had nearly 300,000 active users as of the end of July, a significant jump from 22,000 active users in June.
The astonishing growth in users of smart contract-based wallets indicates the growing interest and adoption of smart contracts by a wider audience. As those numbers continue to climb, mass adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, once considered an elusive ideal, appears to be on the horizon.
