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Web3 Developers Still Building Despite Crypto Winter

Jason Shah, a product manager at Alchemy, a Web3 development platform, told CoinDesk TV that the pace is actually increasing.

Oct 21, 2022, 6:10 p.m.
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Despite the big decline in crypto prices, developers are stepping up their pace to build applications with blockchain technology, Jason Shah, a product manager at Web3 development company Alchemy, said Friday on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” program.

“We see anything but a winter; we see all-time highs across all forms of development activity," Shah said, noting that large internet players such as Facebook, Adobe and Stripe are making moves into Web3.

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Broadly, Web3 refers to a new iteration of the internet that is largely decentralized and incorporates blockchain and other new technologies.

Read more: What Is Web3? Understanding What Web3 Is... and Isn't

“We might see a world in which five years from now, we simultaneously have new crypto-native companies that could only have been built with the technology that blockchain affords us, combined with Web2 companies that have incorporated this technology into their products," Shah said.

Web3 native companies such as OpenSea or 0x are also likely to continue their development of blockchain technology in an effort to address new use cases.

Shah said that developers are “flocking,” to blockchains such as Ethereum, Polygon and Solana and pointed out that despite a 60% price plunge this year for ether, the use of smart contracts on Ethereum has increased by 40%.

Read more: Nike’s Venture into Web3 Isn’t About Tech – It’s About Culture

“We see all-time highs across all forms of development activity,” Shah said, referring to how Alchemy tracks activity, which includes counting the number of SDK (software development kit) downloads and dapps (decentralized applications) that are going live.

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KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
  • Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
  • Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

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Deus X Capital’s Tim Grant on cutting through the crypto hype

Deus X CEO Tim Grant (Deus X)

The Deus X CEO discussed his journey into digital assets, the company's infrastructure-led growth strategy, and why his Consensus Hong Kong panel promises "real talk only."

What to know:

  • Tim Grant entered crypto in 2015 after early exposure to Ripple and Coinbase, drawn by blockchain’s ability to improve traditional finance rather than replace it.
  • Deus X combines investing and operating to build regulated digital finance infrastructure across payments, prime services, and institutional DeFi.
  • Grant will be speaking at Consensus Hong Kong in February.