Summary
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Meta Description: Are you a jobseeker looking for a career in crypto or DeFi, but don't know much about the market? We lay down who firing and who's hiring so you know where to look.
From Hong Kong's emerging crypto and retail trading market to the emerging Play-to-Earn crypto gaming industry in South East Asia, the region's cryptocurrency and decentralised finance industry in Asia has been rapidly changing.
With these market conditions, who is hiring and who is firing?
Firing Firms
With the current macroeconomic outlook, firms like Crypto.com and Gemini have begun laying off employees, cutting their workforces by up to 18% in a bid to remain profitable in the bear market - a trend that possibly will last through the foreseeable future. Most of these targeted job reductions seem to be backend, non-corporate support services which do not directly affect profitability, but this retrenchment threat might extend further if market conditions remain volatile.
Number of People retrenched from Crypto Companies in 2022 (source: layoffs.fyi)
Notable Singapore-based companies that have a recent track record for retrenchment include:
- Coinbase - with unpredictable crypto markets projecting a loss of over $2 trillion in value, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange has retrenched 1,100 employees and rescinded many other job offers for both specialised and non-tech positions since June 2022. Asian job offers on their website have also slowed to a crawl, with only one opening for legal and compliance as of 2 November 2022 among Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
- Crypto.com - despite recently becoming a member of the Blockchain Association of Singapore, it's an open secret that the Singapore-based crypto exchange has been cutting its workforce by 5% to ensure profitability in the face of intensifying regulation. As of November 2022, there hasn't been any uptick in hiring, though both fintech and non-tech positions have been offered in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Of course, these are firms whose retrenchment exercises are more well-documented than most. It could well be the case that the crypto winter has hit more firms than we realise. In any case, it might be best to be remain cautiously optimistic.
Hiring Firms
However, with every bear market also comes opportunities for companies to expand. Within the past 2 years, Asian markets experienced a crypto craze, with areas like Thailand and Vietnam not only emerging as hotbeds for retail cryptocurrency investing, but also drawing demand for crypto and ETFs from interested high net-worth individuals, distributors and the public alike.
With such dynamic opportunities and challenges facing crypto and DeFi in Asia, recruitment and talent in these sectors have also faced similar trends. Even with crypto facing a regulatory crackdown in Singapore, the island remains a thriving hub for blockchain expertise and a launchpad for associated technologies into the region.
Alongside crypto, DeFi also remains a sector of robust growth, pivoting to attracting investment from traditional financial institutions and netting a potential $1 trillion worth of investments over the next 5 years.
Notable crypto and DeFi hiring opportunities include:
- Cake DeFi - The Singapore-based DeFi services provider has expanded its userbase to over 190 countries, and team expansion is following suit. Among their recent talent acquisition drive is a hiring exercise for various roles in engineering, design, product management and marketing, including Asia-based tech roles such as App, DevOps or Blockchain engineers.
- Binance - One of the most recognised blockchain ecosystems and service providers in the DeFi industry, Binance has been aggressively hiring and expanding their operations in over 40 countries. Actively hiring positions include technical specialist roles in data, engineering and security, alongside non-technical and C-suite managerial roles on their careers page.
This is by no means an exhaustive list - there are many other Crypto and DeFi startups that require expertise and talent to continue growing their operations.
How YYY Consulting Can Help
Job searching, or even generating leads can be difficult, especially in an increasingly saturated market with DeFi and crypto startups emerging and dying every single day. It's often tedious to go through the traditional HR screening process before landing your first interview. Even worse, there might be a chance of finding out that the company culture and job scope are completely out of your expectations.
That's where we come in.
Here at YYY Consulting, we not only match your tech job experience and expertise with firms that value them, but also provide value for you throughout your job search. Our in-house expert consultants aim to not only provide career advice - such as which are the best companies to work for and salary ranges - but also understand your goals, ambitions and work out how best to help you achieve those goals.
From what to do when you have a job offer rescinded to wanting your skills evaluated, our consultants can help you achieve your goals through guidance, networking and expertise.
Concluding Thoughts
A macroeconomically volatile market, coupled with increasing regulatory scrutiny has caused ripples for operations and hiring for crypto and DeFi firms. However, opportunities still exist for the taking for jobseekers in this industry – as long as you know where to look.
Need help in finding tech talents for a Singapore-based company? You can count on YYY Consulting to lend you a hand.
While the talent market has undoubtedly become more competitive for both recruiters and HR professionals, we remain dedicated to connecting our partners with the right tech or IT talent.
Connect with us at YYY Consulting for more information about our recruitment solutions for tech companies and functions.
