Open 2026 Annual Report for Web3j by gtebrean · Pull Request #294 · LF-Decentralized-Trust/governance

gtebrean · 2026-02-13T22:38:04Z

No description provided.

git-vote · 2026-02-13T22:38:07Z

Only repository collaborators can create a vote @gtebrean.

For organization-owned repositories, the list of collaborators includes outside collaborators, organization members that are direct collaborators, organization members with access through team memberships, organization members with access through default organization permissions, and organization owners.

arsulegai · 2026-02-15T22:30:22Z

Primary reviewer: @mbrandenburger
Secondary reviewer: @kkaur01
@LF-Decentralized-Trust/tac to review.

kkaur01

Thanks. It is a comprehensive report.

kkaur01 · 2026-02-15T23:28:49Z

+### Next Year's Goals
+- Update project roadmap;
+- Continue to provide maintenance, resolve issues, and release at least once a month;
+- Prague/Electra Upgrade and Future Ethereum Forks;


Curious — the Prague/Electra upgrade has been a goal for a few quarters now. Is the pace of progress impacted by the limited number of maintainers working on it?

there are some enhancements which still needs to be done on staking control, cryptography & efficiency

hendrikebbers · 2026-02-26T15:05:08Z

+Highlights from the 2025 Insights report:
+- 66 contributors 
+- 651 commits 
+- 76% of code activities were performed by one organization (Web3 Labs), an increase of 4% compared to last year


I assume an "increase" here is not a highlight.

hendrikebbers · 2026-02-26T15:06:19Z

+
+## Project Adoption
+
+Based on the research conducted on the enterprise users of Web3j there are at least 13 organizations which are using Web3j for production use cases.


Is there a list of that organizations present somewhere?

on the LF insights page https://insights.linuxfoundation.org/project/web3j/contributors?widget=active-organizations

kkaur01

Thank you to the Web3j maintainers and contributors for the detailed annual report and ongoing stewardship of the project. Below are my comments and observations from a TAC review perspective.
Project Health Assessment
Web3j continues to demonstrate healthy activity, with 66 contributors, 651 commits, and ongoing Discord engagement. That said, 76% of contributions came from a single organization (Web3 Labs), and all three active maintainers are from that same organization. It does introduce concentration risk if key contributors disengage. The project’s mentorship programs and workshops are positive steps toward broadening participation, but it would be helpful to understand whether there is a structured plan to onboard additional maintainers over time.
Outstanding Risks

Contributor Concentration – Heavy reliance on Web3 Labs for code contributions and maintenance.
Maintainer Diversity – Only three active maintainers; low diversity creates sustainability risk.
Lifecycle Clarity
Web3j is performing well operationally and technically, but its long-term sustainability depends on growing the maintainer base and diversifying contributors. Continuing in incubation status is appropriate, with emphasis on community engagement, mentoring, and strategic promotion to mitigate concentration risks and support ecosystem adoption.

gtebrean · 2026-03-25T09:15:13Z

@kkaur01 thank you for the review and for highlighting both Web3j’s strong operational health and its sustainability risks.
We agree that maintainer concentration is a real concern, but it is also a difficult issue to solve because Web3j is a mature, fully open source, and easy-to-use library, which makes commercial support hard to sell and therefore creates limited external incentive for organizations or individuals to take on long-term maintenance outside Web3 Labs.

As a result, most sustained maintainer effort continues to come from within Web3 Labs. Our main approach is to invest in mentorships, workshops, and contributor development so that community contributors can gradually grow into maintainers over time, but progress is naturally slow because the same lack of incentive that affects maintainer recruitment also affects contributor retention and long-term commitment.

mbrandenburger

Thank you @gtebrean for submitting the annual report. Overall, the Web3j project has an active community and releases regularly. The project was also participating the two LFDT mentorship programs. As mentioned before by @kkaur01 mainainter diversity remains a concern. I can recommend incubation status.

Some additional comments below.

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:10:25Z

+- 66 contributors 
+- 651 commits 
+- 76% of code activities were performed by one organization (Web3 Labs), an increase of 4% compared to last year
+- Total of 50 contributors contributed, which indicates that there are many contributors and organizations with an interest in Web3j.


Here you say 50 contributors and above you say 66 contributors. 🤔

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:11:12Z

+
+### web3j-unit
+
+The project delivered 3 releases in 2025, [Releases](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j-unit/releases):


Suggested change

The project delivered 3 releases in 2025, [Releases](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j-unit/releases):

The project delivered 2 releases in 2025, [Releases](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j-unit/releases):

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:19:26Z

+## Goals
+
+### Performance Against Prior Goals
+The current project roadmap is public and can be found here: [Web3j Roadmap](https://lf-hyperledger.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/WEB3J/pages/23101932/Roadmap+2024+-+2025)


I think the wiki could be improved showing the past roadmaps and new next goals. Look at the previous annual report was more helpful than looking into the wiki :)

Maybe the wiki is not the best source anymore?

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:21:10Z

+- Fusaka Upgrade;
+- Glamsterdam Upgrade;
+- Web3j-unit and Web3j-evm updates;
+- Improve the process for generation of Kotlin wrappers for Solidity Smart contracts;


Suggested change

- Improve the process for generation of Kotlin wrappers for Solidity Smart contracts;

- Improve the process for generation of Kotlin wrappers for Solidity Smart contracts.

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:40:56Z

+At the moment there are only 3 active maintainers (all from Web3 Labs).
+
+The MAINTAINERS.md file is up to date and can be found [here](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j/blob/main/MAINTAINERS.md)


Could it be that this needs to be updated and "inactive" maintainers retire? If I remember correctly - this question was asked last year as well.

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:41:13Z

+
+The MAINTAINERS.md file is up to date and can be found [here](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j/blob/main/MAINTAINERS.md)
+
+One virtual events was held in order to promote the project and get more maintainers:


Suggested change

One virtual events was held in order to promote the project and get more maintainers:

One virtual event was held in order to promote the project and get more maintainers:

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:41:55Z

+    1. [What’s New With Web3j 5, The Ethereum Integration Library](https://www.meetup.com/lfdt-sf/events/311587684/)
+The project continues to encourage additional Web3j users and contributors to increase activity and become maintainers.
+The project is happy to mentor anybody interested in becoming a contributor or future maintainer. In terms of mentoring, Web3j took part for the second time in the 2025 LF Decentralized Trust Mentorship program. Two mentorships have been successfully accomplished:
+    1. [LFDT - Web3j Libraries Full Development Lifecycle](https://mentorship.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/project/aaa11b52-96b5-46d9-86dc-f5cd099377a1) which was a success in helping to achieve a roadmap goal and close a considerable number of open issues.
+    1. [LFDT - Web3j: Enhancing JVM Android Support with Kotlin Wrappers for Solidity Smart Contracts](https://mentorship.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/project/203b283e-8d7c-46d5-bd92-b0c98e00b9ec) which was successful in ensuring the library fully aligns with contemporary development standards for both Android applications and Ethereum blockchain technologies.
+The Web3j maintainers also mentor new contributors who are interested in resolving open issues in the project repository—many of which are easy to fix—or by adding new functionalities to the project. Prospective contributors can find detailed instructions in the project’s CONTRIBUTING.md file and are encouraged to seek help in GitHub comments or on Discord.


This list does not render correctly

mbrandenburger · 2026-04-23T13:43:04Z

+    1. [LFDT - Web3j Libraries Full Development Lifecycle](https://mentorship.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/project/aaa11b52-96b5-46d9-86dc-f5cd099377a1) which was a success in helping to achieve a roadmap goal and close a considerable number of open issues.
+    1. [LFDT - Web3j: Enhancing JVM Android Support with Kotlin Wrappers for Solidity Smart Contracts](https://mentorship.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/project/203b283e-8d7c-46d5-bd92-b0c98e00b9ec) which was successful in ensuring the library fully aligns with contemporary development standards for both Android applications and Ethereum blockchain technologies.


These links do not work for me :(

ryjones · 2026-04-23T14:19:55Z

Approved on 23 APR 2026 meeting

Signed-off-by: gtebrean <99179176+gtebrean@users.noreply.github.com>

Signed-off-by: gtebrean <99179176+gtebrean@users.noreply.github.com> Signed-off-by: Ry Jones <ry@linux.com>

gtebrean requested review from EnriqueL8, OsamaRab3, VRamakrishna, arsulegai, dmueller2001, hendrikebbers, kkaur01, kmillikin, matthew1001, mbrandenburger and tock-ibm as code owners February 13, 2026 22:38

github-actions Bot added the annual-report label Feb 13, 2026

kkaur01 reviewed Feb 15, 2026

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hendrikebbers reviewed Feb 26, 2026

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kkaur01 reviewed Mar 16, 2026

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matthew1001 approved these changes Mar 26, 2026

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OsamaRab3 approved these changes Apr 9, 2026

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mbrandenburger requested changes Apr 23, 2026

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gtebrean added 3 commits April 23, 2026 07:23

web3j 2026

910d778

Signed-off-by: gtebrean <99179176+gtebrean@users.noreply.github.com>

MK

82b9ff6

Signed-off-by: gtebrean <99179176+gtebrean@users.noreply.github.com>

fix

fa933ec

Signed-off-by: gtebrean <99179176+gtebrean@users.noreply.github.com> Signed-off-by: Ry Jones <ry@linux.com>

ryjones force-pushed the anual_web3j_2026 branch from 06f97d9 to fa933ec Compare April 23, 2026 14:24

ryjones merged commit 2e27546 into LF-Decentralized-Trust:main Apr 23, 2026
3 checks passed


		## Project Adoption

		Based on the research conducted on the enterprise users of Web3j there are at least 13 organizations which are using Web3j for production use cases.


		### web3j-unit

		The project delivered 3 releases in 2025, [Releases](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j-unit/releases):

	The project delivered 3 releases in 2025, [Releases](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j-unit/releases):
	The project delivered 2 releases in 2025, [Releases](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j-unit/releases):

	- Improve the process for generation of Kotlin wrappers for Solidity Smart contracts;
	- Improve the process for generation of Kotlin wrappers for Solidity Smart contracts.

		At the moment there are only 3 active maintainers (all from Web3 Labs).

		The MAINTAINERS.md file is up to date and can be found [here](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j/blob/main/MAINTAINERS.md)


		The MAINTAINERS.md file is up to date and can be found [here](https://github.com/LFDT-web3j/web3j/blob/main/MAINTAINERS.md)

		One virtual events was held in order to promote the project and get more maintainers:

	One virtual events was held in order to promote the project and get more maintainers:
	One virtual event was held in order to promote the project and get more maintainers:

		1. [LFDT - Web3j Libraries Full Development Lifecycle](https://mentorship.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/project/aaa11b52-96b5-46d9-86dc-f5cd099377a1) which was a success in helping to achieve a roadmap goal and close a considerable number of open issues.
		1. [LFDT - Web3j: Enhancing JVM Android Support with Kotlin Wrappers for Solidity Smart Contracts](https://mentorship.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/project/203b283e-8d7c-46d5-bd92-b0c98e00b9ec) which was successful in ensuring the library fully aligns with contemporary development standards for both Android applications and Ethereum blockchain technologies.

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