Even as the crypto markets took a sharp dip during 2018, the demand for specialists in the new and burgeoning field of blockchain continued to grow – and in the first half of 2019 demand for crypto jobs has nearly surpassed the entire previous year, according to a report from TeQatlas.
The company, a cryptocurrency-focused financial services company, crunched data from Angel.co, Glassdoor and other sources to glean a number of optimistic statistics on the crypto industry.
They found that the vast majority working in the industry earned at least $81,000 per annum (over 87% of those surveyed), with salaries going as high as the mid- to high-200’s. TeQatlas noted that this entry level salary is almost double the U.S. average of $49,000 per annum.
(source: TeQatlas)
About 30% of these jobs, according to Glassdoor, are software engineers of one stripe or another. Tech companies are most interested in these new hires, with IBM by far posting the most number of unfilled crypto jobs: 335 unfilled posts, compared to the next on the list, Oracle with 173. However, three of the “Big Four” accounting firms are high on the list for blockchain demand.
As far as geographic locations are concerned, we may be surprised to learn that London, not San Francisco, is leading the demand for blockchain jobs. According to Glassdoor, London makes up 26% of the demand for crypto jobs, followed by New York City at 19% – with Frisco bringing up third. U.S. located jobs, however paid the best, with an average salary of over $100k per annum.
(source: TeQatlas)
Bottleneck?
One divergency in TeQatlas’ observations was a decline in the number of blockchain firms started over time. Using proprietary data, they found that 2017 was a bumper year in terms of quantity of firms launched, with fewer than half the amount set up during 2018.
We have seen several reports in the past six months or so alleging that the industry is “maturing.” In the U.S., demand from companies for clearer legislation is picking up, and the crypto markets themselves seem to be getting more efficient.
We might speculate that a growing demand for blockchain jobs, backgrounded by fewer actual firms doing the hiring, would support a theory of maturing.
