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Revealed: Startling Crypto Labor Market Trends Differ from Traditional Tech, Say Hiring Pros

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The crypto and tech labor markets are in a strange place right now—but not in the same way. If you listen to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, you’d think the labor market was thriving across the board. In an interview at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. earlier this month, he said, “The labor market is extraordinarily strong.” At a glance, U.S. federal data appears to back that up. The Department of Labor said that total payroll employment, not including agricultural workers, is up by 517,000 in January. Overall, unemployment rates remained steady at 3.4%, continuing their slow decline since October of 2022. Hospitality, government employment, healthcare, and construction are among the industries seeing job growth.

However, the numbers and headlines from the crypto and tech industries paint a very different picture. In January alone, crypto layoffs already affected 2,806 employees, according to CoinGecko data. That’s a big number considering that 6,820 crypto workers lost their jobs in all of 2022. Huobi, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Gemini, Genesis, and Wyre are among the crypto companies that made big cuts last month, with Magic Eden, Polygon, Chainalysis, and Bittrex laying off staff in February. There have also been some “quiet layoffs” happening, according to Denise Carlin, Head of People at Web3 startup MPCH Labs, with two firms saying goodbye to over 20% of their employees without much press. Dan Eskow, Founder and Talent Partner at Web3 recruiting firm Up Top Talent, has also seen such cases.

Many crypto’s layoffs over the past year have occurred directly following unique, industry-shaking events, such as the Terra LUNA crash of May 2022 and the FTX bankruptcy filing of November 2022. But January’s layoffs don’t exactly have a clear, singular causal event. The continued labor market tightening in the crypto space is the result of unrelenting industry concerns, including Genesis’s bankruptcy, Gemini shuttering its Earn program amid its battle with DCG, Kraken ending its staking offering, and increased regulatory pressure in the U.S. Crypto is also affected by the same macroeconomic conditions threatening big tech companies. While Google’s Web3 team was notably not impacted by CEO Sundar Pichai’s January decision to lay off 12,000 workers, entire software engineering teams and Google’s startup incubator team at Area 120 were among those laid off by the tech giant.

As the crypto and traditional tech industries cope with ongoing waves of layoffs, is Web2 talent trying to make the jump to Web3? According to Up Top Talent’s Dan Eskow, yes, ex-Meta, Amazon, and Google staff are interested in crypto jobs. But due to the specialized skills and coding languages needed for crypto roles, crypto-native devs will take precedence—especially if they also have connections in Web3. Denise Carlin, Head of People at MPCH Labs, believes it’s a great time to move from Web2 to Web3 since the Web3 talent pool is comparatively “very junior.” Web3 recruiting has relied on the practice of “headhunting” during boom times.

But now that the crypto market has cooled off, hungry venture capitalists in search of the next big thing in tech may be looking elsewhere—toward artificial intelligence (AI). Clarence Thomas, cofounder of crypto recruiting firm FinBlock Staffing, told Decrypt that he’s seen candidates lose out on job offers because venture capital that was initially pledged to a crypto firm went to an AI firm instead. Up Top Talent’s Dan Eskow has seen ongoing demand for Web3 talent in the DeFi space, while FinBlock Staffing has partly pivoted away from crypto hiring as demand has lessened in the bear market. Hedge funds are still hiring for sales roles, however.

The crypto labor market remains uncertain for 2023. Georgetown Associate Professor Jim Angel has a tale of two crypto labor markets: one consists of traditional tech and financial firms, and the other are what Angel calls “wildcat firms” pushing forward with crypto tech and innovation no matter the cost. Stanford’s Jeffrey Pfeffer believes that some of the tech industry’s layoffs may be due to “copycat behavior,” while Pfeffer has a different view when it comes to crypto: “Crypto has a different problem—it is an industry based on vapor, hope, and B.S. for the most part.” In contrast, Angel believes the crypto labor market will follow cryptos in general, with the flaky stuff fading away and the productive sides growing and maturing.

The crypto and tech labor markets are in a strange place right now. The numbers and headlines from the crypto and tech industries paint a very different picture, with crypto layoffs already affecting 2,806 employees in January alone. There have also been some “quiet layoffs,” and Web2 talent is trying to make the jump to Web3. However, venture capitalists may be looking elsewhere—toward artificial intelligence (AI). Dan Eskow has seen ongoing demand for Web3 talent in the DeFi space, while Clarence Thomas has seen hedge funds still hiring for sales roles. Georgetown Associate Professor Jim Angel has a tale of two crypto labor markets, while Stanford’s Jeffrey Pfeffer believes that crypto is an industry based on vapor, hope, and B.S. for the most part. The future of the crypto labor market remains uncertain for 2023. #crypto #tech #layoffs #AI #recruiting

You can read more about this topic here: Decrypt: Crypto Labor Market Trends Don’t Echo Traditional Tech, Hiring Experts Say

The post Revealed: Startling Crypto Labor Market Trends Differ from Traditional Tech, Say Hiring Pros first appeared on Byte Syze Crypto.

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Justin Sun Predicts Huobi Crypto Exchange to Secure Hong Kong License in Under a Year

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Tron founder and advisor to the exchange, Justin Sun, has stated that Huobi could get a Hong Kong crypto license in six to twelve months. Specifically, Sun told Coindesk that the exchange applied to become a virtual asset service provider (VASP) last week. Additionally, Sun discussed the process of the VASP application and his belief that the crypto exchange could have an answer by the end of the year. Huobi had recently relocated to Hong Kong, aiming to launch Huobi Hong Kong by the summer. Sun was asked about embracing potential competition in the Canadian market and noted the strict regulatory standards in the country, referring to the Caribbean, Hong Kong, and Japan. There has been no verification of other cryptocurrency exchanges that have applied for a similar license, however, Coindesk reported Sun’s expectation that five to six other exchanges could make the move.

This news is good for Huobi as they are in the process of obtaining a crypto license in Hong Kong, which would allow them to operate in the region and serve customers. Other exchanges may also apply for the license, and the grace period given to the exchange could provide them with the opportunity to get approval in the next six to twelve months.

#Huobi #HongKong #CryptoLicense #VASP #JustinSun

You can read more about this topic here: Watcher Guru: Justin Sun Says Huobi Could Get Hong Kong Crypto License in 6-12 Months

The post Justin Sun Predicts Huobi Crypto Exchange to Secure Hong Kong License in Under a Year first appeared on Byte Syze Crypto.

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Crypto Rug Pulls: How $45 Million In Defi Attacks Were Lost In May

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#CryptoSafety #RugPulls #DefiExploits #ProtectInvestors

You can read more about this topic here: Watcher Guru: Crypto Rug Pulls Outvalued Defi Attacks in May, $45 Million Lost

The post Crypto Rug Pulls: How $45 Million In Defi Attacks Were Lost In May first appeared on Byte Syze Crypto.

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CFTC Set to Revamp Risk Regulations: How it Impacts the Crypto Industry

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed a re-modelled rule-set for risk management as part of its effort to respond to the U.S. banking crisis. Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero highlighted the need for such regulations due to the risks posed by the emergence of technologies like crypto, AI, and cloud services. The CFTC’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking will be open for public comments for 60 days. The final version will then be voted upon. #CFTC #RiskManagement #Crypto #Regulations

You can read more about this topic here: Watcher Guru: Crypto: U.S. CFTC Looking to Change Risk Rules

The post CFTC Set to Revamp Risk Regulations: How it Impacts the Crypto Industry first appeared on Byte Syze Crypto.

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