Thriving cryptocurrency companies say they are scrambling to find the right candidates to fill in hundreds of positions as the hysteria and interest in digital currencies as well as other assets pits them against some of the world’s largest financial institutions.
Regardless of drubbing in the month of May, cryptocurrencies’ overall market value is up 400 per cent over the past year to around $1.4 trillion, and established financial firms of the likes of DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. have started offering services and trading in them.
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Meanwhile, companies such as CME Group Inc are expanding crypto derivatives offerings, which is helping the asset class mature.
That leaves fewer candidates for crypto companies, who need hundreds of new employees to expand their business.
According to the LinkedIn recruitment portal of Binance, which is the world’s largest crypto exchange, around 370 positions are open to be filled globally.
US-based Gemini also plans to boost its Singapore headcount to 50 from 30 by December this year. Hong Kong-based Crypto.com has put out over 200 openings, with more than half of them based in Asia.
“We are hiring aggressively,” Binance Chief Executive Officer Changpeng “CZ” Zhao told Bloomberg.
“We see the industry growing exponentially on a year-to-year basis, and we need to scale our team to cope with it,” he added. “We are a geo-equal-opportunity employer. We don’t mind where people are, as long as they produce results,” Zhao added.
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Interest in crypto jobs has suddenly boomed for potential candidates, rising by around five to 10 times in the past nine months, Neil Dundon, founder of recruitment agency Crypto Recruit, told the agency.
He added that a single job posting can draw hundreds of applicants. Despite the boom, finding the right candidates with relevant experience can be difficult, prompting several companies to lower their expectations or change job criteria, the report added.
“In terms of length of experience, one or two years is good enough these days,” said Dundon, adding that “the skills shortage is so bad at the moment that companies are casting a wider net.”