It’s crypto time
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As prices for cryptocurrencies soar, an inherent FOMO kicks in. One from a price gain standpoint, another from a knowledge arbitrage standpoint.
Whether or not you opt to invest in crypto, I strongly believe it is a momentous time to be dedicating a little bit of your mental bandwidth to understanding the space and the ongoing trends. It’s a good way to slowly future proof yourself in a fast-moving landscape.
I seek to bring reason to your pursuit in the blockchain space through this piece. It’s never too late to join the bandwagon.
Accessible — most code out there is open source making it easy for you to learn by just digging into whatever you see out there. This significantly lowers friction to entry.
Win-win — the space currently operates with a certain positive-sum, win-win atmosphere unheard of in many industries. This makes the barrier to entry slightly lower.
High value on talent — jobs in the space right now require a skill set that the market does not have a supply for. Most jobs in the space pay well compared to their traditional Web2 equivalent.
Niche — knowledge in blockchain is both niche, yet not stupid competitive. This creates an ideal sweet spot to make meaningful headway early on.
Non-technical Growth — there is scope and lots of room for non-technical majors to break in as crypto and blockchains go mainstream. Understanding the fundamentals and an appreciation for the benefits can go a long way.
Remote-first — most companies in the space that value decentralisation's ethos creates opportunities for their employees to do the same and work from where they feel most comfortable. LinkedIn shows the majority of jobs in the space are remote.
Talent dearth — There is a clear shortage of talent. Demand (per LinkedIn) clearly outnumbers the supply by a factor of 15 (or more) — there are 15 openings for every 1 person qualified to take on a job. It’s fairly easy to get internships and jobs and make a big buck (goes without saying) if you understand and appreciate the space
Multiple streams of revenue — Crypto is unlike traditional industries where a job or consulting might be the primary source of income. Knowledge in the blockchain space can give you access to various streams such as staking, bounties, and trading bots.
Funding — considering the industry is fairly early stage, there are various funding opportunities like grants, equity, and bounties (you name it). A lot of the infrastructure that needs to be built out is still in the works. Keying into this space gives you access to an array of equity-free grants that might get you hooked.
Disruption — crypto has already disrupted traditional finance, venture capital, crowdfunding, SWIFT, and other traditional economies. It’s only a matter of time before this trickles.
Policy — across the globe governments are trying to understand how they might best be able to work with crypto. Most companies are currently running large taps of innovation into the reservoir; it’s only a matter of time before regulators let the floodgates loose, by clearer regulation. At the time, incumbents will have a significant headstart.
Early-stage — This is unlike other traditional computer science areas, where most of the breakthroughs stem from the work of erudite people in the space (not hating on PhDs). A quick look at the research and pivotal work in the blockchain space has innovation from newcomers with a fresh perspective. This counter-intuitive upside continues to garner more and more people into this space.
Needless to say, there is a strong resonance of the space to the internet in 1994. The crypto rabbit hole is drawing — it’s time.
