One thing that stands in the way: a lack of people to make it happen.

At the end of last year, when bitcoin and a handful of other cryptocurrencies reached their highest values, about 18,500 developers each month were contributing to open-source Web3 projects, according to a report published by crypto-focused investment firm Electric Capital.

That number is “at an all-time high and growing faster than ever”—with roughly 60% of Web3 developers entering the industry in 2021—writes Electric Capital partner Maria Shen, but it is a speck of the global total of software engineers, which stood at 31.1 million in the first quarter of 2022, according to developer analytics company SlashData.

Facebook, Amazon.com and Google—the largest companies of today’s internet, dubbed Web2 by cryptophiles,— have over 20,000 software developers each, according to various estimates. But they’re outnumbered by the staff at companies like JPMorgan and Citigroup, both of which say they employ over 30,000 on projects for their financial-services businesses.

Crypto insiders might shrug at this juxtaposition, replying “we are still early”–one of the industry’s favorite refrains–but some see this chasm as a major impediment to the realization of Web3’s promises.

Read the full report here