A comprehensive guide to hiring Cryptocurrency Developers
The changing digital world never hinted that one day our Gucci wallets will make way for an e-wallet and the currency will turn into sequences of 0 and 1. Gradually we did slip into a world of the digital, encrypted and decentralized medium of monetary exchange – the cryptocurrency. Based on Blockchain technology the value of cryptocurrency is not managed and maintained by a central authority. The values are instead maintained and are widely distributed amongst the users of cryptocurrencies, via the internet. While Etherium and Bitcoin are the most popular names, there are 5000 plus different cryptocurrencies circulating in the market, as per the studies from CoinLore.
The most interesting aspect of cryptocurrency is the decentralised technology that is widely used to make anonymous secure money transfers. Since digital money is independent of an individual or a government, it has its uses and reasons for being popular. These also make very good investment options. Mining and making money through trading are few other most explored options. Since Cryptocurrency is the new money, it needs to be secured and laid on a strong foundation for this might be setting the stage for the future of the industry.
Cryptocurrency is the most important product from Blockchain. As it is being leveraged from the aviation industry to healthcare and further to gaming and betting, demand for technology experts is also booming. Blockchain and Crypto are seeing an upsurge in technologies like Bitpay, Dash, DMEX, DigitalBits, Quppy, Elrond, Dusk Network, Algorand, DSLA Protocol and many more, cryptocurrency is a serious, growing industry with immense job opportunities. An Upwork press release from 2018 maintains that Blockchain is the highest in-demand skill. New positions in Blockchain are not able to meet the relevant talents, a situation we experienced in the 21st century with “Cloud”. The Technologies in use are Python, Solidity, JavaScript and React amongst a plethora of tools available.
A glance at the technologies in use in the industry:
Python: Created on a simple philosophy of Simplicity and Minimalism, Python – the crypto programming language – is one of the preferred languages by the developers. Yet another reason for a great userbase is the online presence of a lot of external libraries.
Solidity: Solidity is a must-learn language if anyone wants to create the DApps or Decentralised Applications. The language is created by many Ethereum core contributors putting their experiences together to bring up Solidity. The language enables writing smart contracts on Ethereum and other blockchain platforms. This high-level language is influenced by C++< JavaScript and Python.
JavaScript: The language has one of the best languages to build apps on blockchain and related web development. The syntax of Java, also called the OOP language, is similar to that of Java, however, it is much light-weight when two are compared. Along with CSS and HTML, the language is widely used for World Wide Web Content Production. The advantage is that it creates highly interactive web pages.
C++: This granddaddy of all the programming languages is an extension of the C language and has inherited its flexibility and efficiency. However, C++ is an object-oriented language and hence reduces the coding time to a great deal.
The positions on grab range from freelancers to in-house entry-level jobs, to knowledgeable blockchain developers. Even though there is an array of job positions, maximum postings are done for the developers. Indeed - the traditional job posting site also reported a massive upsurge in interest – to the tune of 621 per cent. While in a study quoted by Monster.com another popular job site, the increase in search of keywords like ”bitcoin’, ‘blockchain’ or ‘cryptocurrency’ was to the tune of 194% over just one the year 2017-2018. And then the leap. Huge Indeed!! Another indicator of the immense popularity is the sky-rocketing Total Market Capitalisation. The jobs are well paid and average salary stands at about $100k annually, and increases substantially with increasing skills and experience.
Blockchain Developers: Good and experienced Blockchain developers are high in demand. The talent gap between AI developers and blockchain Developers is increasing and the salaries are high. The job of most of the developers includes implementing secure systems, coding solutions to problems, and developing innovative patches and ideas.
What would a developer do:
- Blockchain developers are required to write and maintain the codes.
- Create computer protocols to eliminate the need for the third party while making transactions like in the case of financial institutions.
The Skills needed are:
- Good knowledge about some common languages used by web developers: JavaScript, React (a javascript library used to build the user interface).
- Other languages required are – Python and Solidity.
- Think outside the box and courage to be a leader
- Since It is comparatively a new technology, with less experience and knowledge the companies may expect miracles. The developer should be able to understand and manage the expectations amicably.
- Technology-wise the candidate should have a CS degree
- Pieces of training / Specialist blockchain course is desired.
- Need to adapt to the fast-paced work environment and ever-changing technologies and industries.
Ethereum Developers: Ethereum enjoys the biggest community of developers by far. Being the second-largest cryptocurrency and also the technology backing smart contracts, there are approximately 30 per cent more developers than any other blockchain. The key responsibility area of an Ethreeum Developer is to develop solutions to upgrade/improvise Ethereum or to build DApps (applications) on the network.
The Skills needed are:
- Developer background with a piece of fair knowledge on Blockchains
- Additional knowledge on Ethreum
- Coding on Solidity the programming language is essential.
- Short courses to bridge gaps are desired.
The soft skills requirements for jobs in cryptocurrency are higher than most of the other technical jobs since these are comparatively newer markets and most of the companies getting into this stream are new names. The developers are not highly experienced since it is comparatively a new technology. Thus the requests that come from the clients may not be clear or elaborate. It is the developers' job to understand the requirements and sometimes fill up the blanks, and read between the lines. Sometimes developers are also required to re-do things many times over again to match the client expectations. Sticking to TATs, and handling pressure are important for this job. Understanding the client and communicating effectively while documenting is also a much-required skill. The candidate should also be a team player as they need to work in tandem with many teams right from the client’s office to their own.
This sun-rise industry is particularly attractive to tech-savvy millennials. However to keep faith in the field of cryptocurrency, sometimes the salaries are also offered in bitcoins. The governments are now waking up to the possibilities of this community and working on regulations, it is important to stay compliant. Most of the companies working on cryptocurrency are start-ups, however, few big names are also entering the arena like IBM, Facebook, Walmart, Deloitte, JP Morgan etc. These companies are not interested in the cryptocurrency jobs, but the blockchain technology standing behind them.
As an employer, if you are a cryptocurrency company and looking forward to hiring Cryptocurrency developers or any other positions with a Blockchain background, hiring might get challenging as there is a dearth of experienced developers in the industry. A company needs to keep a substantial training or learning and development budget aside to be able to provide bridge courses to the workforce. In the capacity of an EOR company, and with expertise in hiring and workforce management, we can be of help to find the correct fitment of an employee. We can be your local HR agency in case you are hiring for a branch/ office in a different location. We are equipped to hire for you, onboard the employees, handle their payouts, taxations, compliances and other employee-related legal and operational areas. The Employee On Record companies is easier to work with as your liability with them lies in a single cheque payment for the employees and our services included. This means a better focus on your core areas leaving the non-value-added services to us.