Stellar's monthly active developers grew 253% in 2026 to rank #2 globally. SDF's VP of Ecosystem details the support infrastructure ladder—bounty programs, hackathons, regional communities, SCF funding—that drove the surge and identifies strategic priorities for sustaining momentum in 2027.
At Meridian 2026, Stellar's VP of Ecosystem presented quantitative evidence of this year's developer explosion: monthly active developers grew 253% from 900 in January to over 3,600 by July, while Bitcoin fell 19%, Ethereum 37%, and Solana 44%. Stellar leapfrogged eight major chains to rank #2 globally behind Ethereum. Two factors drove the surge: more worth building on Stellar (Soroban smart contracts matured, privacy and zero-knowledge proofs advanced, agentic payments launched, real on-off ramps and markets multiplied) and more effective support infrastructure. SDF runs a deliberately designed ladder: bounty programs like DRIPS Waves turn curiosity into first commits; hackathons (Stellar Hacks grew 9x, Hack Meridian drew 165 projects from 36 countries) bring builders into community; regional programs (Ambassador Program with 1,000 ambassadors across 17 chapters, BAF in LATAM, Ryzen in Asia and Turkey) foster local startup ecosystems; SCF Instawards provide fast-tracked grants; and the Stellar Community Fund awards larger grants—102 projects launched mainnet in 2026 versus 36 a year prior. SDF identified three priorities for 2027: retaining developers beyond their first program, providing post-launch support for founders, and empowering community-driven public goods infrastructure.
