Electric Capital: A Review of the Cryptocurrency Landscape in 2025

Written by: Stanford Blockchain Club

Compiled by: Baihua Blockchain

Electric Capital releases its "Annual Developer Report" every year, attracting thousands of readers seeking deep insights into crypto developer activity across various ecosystems. This year's report analyzes over 902 million code commits across 1.7 million code repositories.

The first edition of the report was published in 2018. Since then, Electric Capital has consistently released it annually, as they believe—and I agree—that developer engagement is the most important metric for the future of the crypto industry. We need developers to create applications that provide value to users, which in turn attracts more users and subsequently more developers to the ecosystem.

Avichal Garg and Maria Shen are core members of Electric Capital, serving as co-founders and managing partner, and investment partner, respectively. They focus on innovation in the blockchain and crypto ecosystem, driving the development of the crypto industry by supporting developer communities and investing in key projects like EigenLayer and Monad, and they have deep insights into the developer ecosystem, NFTs, and DeFi.

In our interview, I posed the following questions to Avichal and Maria and summarized their insights.

1. Can you briefly introduce yourselves and share how you got into the crypto industry?

Maria

Maria was initially attracted to crypto technology due to cross-border payment solutions, but she didn't delve deeply into the field until Ethereum was released. She became interested in programmable money because she believed it could solve problems she faced in a supply chain startup. Specifically, she wanted to create a lightweight and inexpensive custodial system using Ethereum. However, in 2016, she found that the infrastructure at the time was not ready for real-world applications, but this exploration led her deep into the "rabbit hole of the crypto world," where she realized the potential of the technology, even though it was still immature at that time.

Avichal

Avichal first encountered cryptocurrency between 2010 and 2011 while running his second startup, Spool, which focused on mobile content caching for offline reading. During this time, he and co-founder Curtis met several Bitcoin miners and considered mining. After selling Spool to Facebook in 2012, Avichal continued to stay in the field as a hobby.

His involvement deepened during the 2017 Bitcoin bull market. He researched Bitcoin, Ethereum, and ICOs, and hosted educational sessions for curious venture capitalists. By 2018, recognizing the lack of knowledge among traditional venture capital firms regarding crypto assets, some VCs invited Avichal to manage their crypto investments.

Avichal's background in distributed systems and security naturally led him to explore privacy-preserving technologies in the blockchain space. His interest in crypto privacy stems from the unique challenges posed by blockchain technology, particularly in custodianship and security.

2. The report mentions that despite a record number of new developers, experienced developers still contribute 70% of the code. What does this indicate about the maturity of the crypto space?

Maria

The field is now more open and accessible than it was in the early days, with a wider variety of choices, unlike the early years when there were only Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the cost of experimentation was very high. Nowadays, developers can easily build on new chains, thanks to abundant documentation and a supportive mentor community. However, there is a dropout phenomenon among novice developers. While the entry barrier is lower than ever, truly engaging in this field requires developers to undergo a significant mindset shift from traditional development paradigms. Once they overcome this initial hurdle, retention rates for developers significantly improve. This dynamic also explains why experienced developers still dominate the majority of code contributions.

3. Asia has surpassed North America to become the leading region for crypto developers. How does this affect your investment philosophy?

Maria

In 2024, the region with the fastest growth of new developers in the crypto space is India. However, we are also seeing increased developer activity from regions like Nigeria and Southeast Asia. I have spoken with some developers from these regions, and they initially use cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, then decide to develop better applications for them because they understand best how to improve products based on their needs.

Avichal

Avichal mentioned that related to this phenomenon is the need for larger development teams and funding to build core infrastructure. However, countries in Asia and Africa often have relatively less technical expertise and access to funding, exacerbating this divergence.

4. Currently, one-third of developers are building on multiple blockchains, with EVM chains leading this trend. With the rise of ecosystems like Base and Solana, how do you view the development of this multi-chain concept?

Avichal

Each chain has its unique positioning. Ethereum is used for high-value, high-security operations, while Solana and Base are more focused on applications that prioritize speed and cost, such as NFT minting and gaming. These chains offer faster speeds and lower costs compared to Ethereum, so as long as there is community support and cost advantages, most activities will tend to occur on these chains.

The rise of Solana and Base. Solana became the leading ecosystem attracting new developers in 2024, with its high-performance architecture and expanding ecosystem drawing in a large number of developers. Another key player is Base. Base is EVM-compatible and supported by Coinbase, making it easy for Ethereum developers to migrate their applications. In 2024, Base became the most popular chain among multi-chain deployers, accounting for 25% of all original on-chain code logic among EVM chains.

5. You mentioned that the application of NFTs has gone beyond the realm of art. What examples are you focusing on?

Maria

NFTs and blockchain ledgers can accurately allocate ownership. One example is BasePaint, a crypto collaborative art project based on Base, where artists co-create digital art on a shared pixel canvas. After each 24-hour creation period, the work is converted into an open edition NFT, with 90% of the revenue distributed proportionally to participants based on the number of pixels contributed by each artist. The on-chain intellectual property process is very clear, combining digital contributions with smart contract governance to ensure everyone receives fair compensation based on their contributions.

To view the BasePaint project, visit: https://basepaint.xyz/.

Avichal

In the blockchain, things are either fungible or non-fungible. Most things are non-fungible—they are unique and irreplaceable, which is what NFTs are, representing their digital form on the blockchain.

One of the first applications of NFTs was PFPs (profile picture NFTs), which convey social signals to others by showcasing high-value NFTs (like a $100,000 NFT) or by being an early adopter. This behavior essentially serves as a signal of "social adaptability." As primates, humans have an ingrained desire and need to convey adaptability to one another. In a digital realm where people spend over 12 hours online daily, this signaling is primarily achieved through digitally scarce goods. For example, in a Zoom video call, most people may not care about what shoes you are wearing, but you might care because you like shoes or craftsmanship. However, many people buy expensive shoes so that others can see them. In such an environment, what you wear "above the shoulders" becomes the most important.

NFTs are the natural mechanism for humans to convey social signals in the digital world. Something is verified for its scarcity through cryptographic means, and this scarcity drives value, which in turn drives social signaling. Instead of buying expensive shoes, watches, or bags, people will buy expensive digital goods.

This reminds me of the early internet era when people's time spent online had already shifted, but advertising dollars were still primarily directed towards television and newspapers. Today, social and work time has shifted online, but luxury spending and expenditures for social signaling have not fully transitioned online.

Therefore, we have made many investments in the NFT space, such as Magic Eden, which is one of the largest cross-chain NFT marketplaces. When Electric first engaged with the Magic Eden team, it was clear that they were leaders in the crypto space, with a profound understanding of the value of NFTs, memes, and digital culture.

Magic Eden is a leading multi-chain NFT marketplace, supporting transactions on Solana, Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin Ordinals, known for its low fees and user-friendly platform. Electric Capital led the recent funding round and participated in the seed round. Other investors include Sequoia, Greylock, and Paradigm. The company's recent funding round valued it at $1.6 billion.

6. Have you heard about the credit card compatible with NFTs launched by Mastercard?

Maria

I haven't heard of it!

For more information, visit: https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/europe/en/newsroom/press-releases/en/2022/september-2022/hi-launches-world-s-first-nft-customizable-card-with-mastercard/.

Tesvara

I first learned about this product during dinner with our SBC president, Jay. This is an NFT customizable Mastercard launched by hi, a financial application that supports both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. This card can be used to purchase goods globally with fiat, stablecoins, and other cryptocurrencies, and it can be customized with the NFT avatar you own.

I believe this kind of real-world fusion innovation is very beneficial for helping more people understand cryptocurrencies or at least get more exposure to them. Additionally, using the card to spend cryptocurrencies increases the practicality of holding cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, this eye-catching product is perfect for promoting among online crowds, as these individuals are inherently interested in community signals and would be eager to showcase their belonging to a group in more ways.

7. Electric Capital's Investments in 2024

The report mentions that you invested in EigenLayer, which has added over $30 billion in total locked value (TVL) to Ethereum through its "re-staking service." How do you assess its impact on Ethereum and DeFi? What is the next step for EigenLayer? EigenLayer provides a "re-staking service," which is a middleware protocol on Ethereum that allows ETH validators to re-stake tokens to support other protocols. Electric Capital participated in EigenLayer's $14.5 million seed round in August 2022 and in a $50.8 million Series A round in February 2023.

Maria

EigenLayer has launched "Liquid Re-staking Tokens" (LRTs), opening up a whole new domain and adding over $30 billion in TVL to the Ethereum mainnet. EigenLayer is a great example of the developer flywheel effect. It started with a small group of focused developers who unlocked a new use case that attracted capital, users, and new products. As TVL grows, more developers begin to build Active Validation Services (AVS) for EigenLayer, creating more utility and further attracting more capital, users, and developers.

8. Why did you invest in Monad?

Monad is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed to achieve high performance without sacrificing decentralization and security. Electric Capital participated in Monad's $225 million Series A round led by Paradigm in April 2024.

TesvaraMonad achieves high performance while maintaining EVM compatibility, bridging the gap between Ethereum's robust developer ecosystem and consumer applications' demands for speed and efficiency.

The founders of Monad, Eunice Giarta, Keone Hon, and James Hunsaker, were all executives at major tech companies and former employees of Jump Trading, with extensive experience in building high-frequency trading systems. This experience is well-suited for developing a fast and scalable blockchain infrastructure.

Both Maria and Avichal emphasized Monad's potential, believing it can support new use cases that require both Ethereum compatibility and high transaction throughput, such as on-chain order books and complex DeFi protocols. They view Monad as a potential catalyst for driving the next wave of blockchain application development.

9. Many members of our club are crypto newcomers and often ask, "What should I develop?" As deep participants in this field as venture capitalists, what gaps do you think our Stanford developers can fill?

Maria

"Go develop more unique applications."