This year was huge for the crypto developer space even though the digital asset market continues to wallow in a downturn, according to a new report by web3 developer platform Alchemy.

Although the crypto market capitalization is down about 58% year to date, web3 developers are pouring into the space.

The report found that developer activity increased based on the number of crypto software developer kit (SDK) libraries being downloaded, smart contracts being stored on blockchains, and the growth in the number of decentralized applications (dApps) in the market.

“It’s a really exciting time in web3 overall and especially in the web3 development space,” Jason Shah, head of growth at Alchemy, said to TechCrunch. “We were shocked at the results [because they run] counter to the narratives out there with token prices being down, pullbacks in investments, and even layoffs. But in the data with libraries, smart contracts, and dApp growth, all those numbers are up year over year.”

Despite the bear market, crypto has become a “builder market,” with many clearly undeterred, Shah said.

“Crypto bear markets are often when the best projects get built,” Francesco Melpignano, CEO of layer-1 blockchain Kadena, said to TechCrunch.