Solana chief cites reasons for developers leaving the United States

Solana cofounder Solana Anatoly Yakovenko expressed concern about the exodus of blockchain developers from the United States, urging local lawmakers to study the industry more closely in order to regulate it.

“I meet every day with promising entrepreneurs who want to create the next great technological innovation in America, but don’t know how to build a crypto company that meets the requirements. […] Faced with the choice: stay in the U.S. or pursue their dream, more and more founders [of projects] are deciding to leave,” he wrote.

According to Elliptic analyst cited by Yakovenko, in 2018 42% Web3-developers were based in the United States, and by 2022 the share had fallen to 29%.

3/ First of all, U.S. is losing its lead (from 42% share in 2018 to 29% in 2022).

The grand majority of new and existing crypto devs are in the U.S. However, crypto is becoming more global and decentralized.

So, which regions are accelerating faster? pic.twitter.com/7OBFNstZtT

— Enrique ⚡ (@eherrerosj) March 1, 2023

The Solana chief recalled his childhood in Ukraine, where “access to assets and information was controlled with an iron fist.” After moving to the United States he understood the “boundless possibilities of the country,” where it is possible to realise the idea of “a globally interoperable network that no single person or organization could disconnect.”

But Yakovenko noted that young crypto projects are wary of entering the market, as the local regulatory landscape hinders even multi-billion-dollar companies.

He also acknowledged frequent scams in the industry, but stressed that the economy should not punish the entire sector for the actions of its “worst elements”.

“Imagine if Google were founded in Russia, and Reddit in China. How different would the Internet look today? For the U.S. to attract and retain the best talent in the new digital world, we need a compelling regulatory framework that protects consumers and encourages entrepreneurship,” added the Solana cofounder.

In short, Anatoly Yakovenko urged the U.S. Congress to move swiftly to establish a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market.

Earlier, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse named the United States as one of the “worst places” to launch Web3 startups. As an alternative with smart regulation, he highlighted Singapore, the United Kingdom, the UAE and Switzerland.