The State of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Job Market in 2018

Following the one year anniversary of Cryptocurrency Jobs, I put together a thread on Twitter about the state of the blockchain and cryptocurrency job market. This post is a modified version of that thread.

Blockchain and crypto jobs are in great demand despite prices being down from their all time highs. Demand is growing which seems to indicate that people are interested in the technology and ecosystem, not just prices.

Since its launch, Cryptocurrency Jobs has featured over 1100 blockchain and cryptocurrency jobs at 400+ companies and startups across 100+ cities and 50+ countries.

Jobs distributed across roles:

• Customer support: 8%
• Design: 6%
• Engineering: 47%
• Marketing: 10.5%
• Operations: 12%
• Other (finance, product): 11%
• Sales: 5.5%

Most popular technical roles: Blockchain Engineer, dApp and Smart Contracts Developer, Protocol Engineer, Solidity Developer, and similar.

These roles are usually the most difficult to fill due to limited supply. If you’re a developer or engineer, you’re in high demand.

Most popular non-technical roles: Customer Support and Community Manager roles.

The rise of the Community Manager is interesting. Applicants sometimes misunderstand the nature of the role and view it as an entry-level social media type job. Equally some companies seem to make the Community Manager a catch-all job title for multiple responsibilities and the role loses value.

Top cities for blockchain and cryptocurrency jobs:

1. San Francisco
2. New York
3. London
4. Berlin
5. Boston
6. Toronto
7. Tel Aviv
8. Hong Kong
9. Singapore
10. Los Angeles

Cryptocurrency Jobs has had visitors from 6560 cities and 185 countries.

Despite all the talk about decentralisation, only about 25% of jobs offer the option to work remotely. This is better than I have seen across other tech sectors, but I hope we see more companies transition to remote work in the future. Remote jobs are in very high demand.

A quick detour of why you should consider remote work:

• Access to talent outside tech hubs
• Increase diversity
• Improve work-life balance
• Improve productivity
• Decrease operating costs

Remote work works. Have a look at Basecamp, InVision, Buffer, Doist etc. In crypto, there’s Kraken, Status, OpenZeppelin, ConsenSys, and many others.

Two common misconceptions need to be addressed.

1. You don’t need to be a developer to work in the space. 35% of the jobs on Cryptocurrency Jobs are non-technical.
2. You also don’t need to have prior blockchain and crypto work experience.

As Taylor Monahan wrote, The Decentralized Future is People. And that includes writers, marketers, lawyers, economists, community managers as well as developers. This industry is for everyone.

Although some companies require some years of crypto experience, many are more interested in your prior work experience and that you are passionate about working in the space. This is true across roles.

How do you find a blockchain job?

Apart from applying directly to a job listing, there are a few alternatives:

• Contribute to a project
  This is how Tyler Yasaka was hired by Origin.

• Volunteer
  Several Messari community analysts have been hired by great teams.

• Build
  Austin Griffith recently started working on crypto full-time after a year of building products on Ethereum in his spare time. Here’s Austin’s story on how he got his big break.

• Network

• Write
• Cold-email

A note to hiring companies.

There are too few entry-level and internship roles available. With the rise of crypto in higher education, there is a growing applicant pool of young, creative and talented individuals. Open your doors, and you will be rewarded.

Let’s talk diversity.

Given that Bitcoin aims to challenge some of the most powerful institutions in our society, perhaps we should also challenge the way we hire and build teams. Wouldn’t it be great if the startups and companies building this new future were equal and diverse?

A great starting point is to review your job descriptions. Read through this thread to learn how you can make them more inclusive.

Consider reaching out to groups such as CryptoChicks, Diversity in Blockchain, she256, Women in Blockchain, etc.

As a side note, here’s a great list of women speakers for blockchain/crypto events.

Lastly, thank you.

Thank you for supporting Cryptocurrency Jobs, in particular all the startups and companies that have worked with us.

If you’re looking to hire, we’re here to help!