New data reveals the most active projects within the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems based on GitHub development activity, underscoring a market-wide focus on infrastructure, scaling, and real-world utility over speculative trading.
On the Polygon network, a recent screener highlighted leading projects by development momentum, including Decentraland (MANA), Aave (AAVE), Curve (CRV), The Graph (GRT), Mask Network (MASK), DIMO (DIMO), Beefy Finance (BIFI), Aavegotchi (GHST), and Frax Finance (FRAX). The ranking, which measures ongoing feature upgrades, infrastructure expansion, and contributor engagement, serves as an indicator of long-term project durability and ecosystem commitment. Notably, the inclusion of both Ethereum and Polygon versions of FRAX emphasizes the growing structural trend of multi-chain deployment, positioning Polygon as a complementary scaling layer rather than a siloed environment.
Concurrently, Ethereum's development landscape is dominated by infrastructure and utility-focused projects. A separate ranking places MetaMask's regulated stablecoin, mUSD, at the top, followed by Chainlink (LINK) and Starknet. MetaMask is expanding the availability of its mUSD-backed card across Asia-Pacific and Latin America in early 2026, aiming to bridge self-custody with everyday payments at over 150 million Mastercard merchants.
Chainlink's growth is fueled by its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), which has seen a dramatic surge in transfers. The protocol is undergoing pilot programs with traditional financial institutions like SWIFT and JPMorgan, indicating increasing institutional experimentation. Starknet is advancing toward full decentralization of its proving infrastructure and has recently introduced native Bitcoin yield capabilities within Ethereum-compatible wallets.
Other highly active Ethereum projects include Safecoin, Ethereum itself—which is preparing for major 2026 upgrades like Glamsterdam and Hegotá—Worldcoin (rebranded as World Network), and Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe). Decentraland, Status (SNT), Radworks, and Aave's GHO stablecoin also feature prominently, with Decentraland preparing mobile-first social applications and a governance overhaul for 2026.
Collectively, these metrics signal a maturing ecosystem where developer effort is concentrated on foundational technology, cross-chain interoperability, and financial applications, providing a clearer signal of long-term direction than short-term price movements.
