Hey there,
Welcome to the first edition of Line of Work, a bi-weekly newsletter discussing the more human elements of the Bitcoin, crypto & blockchain industry. Our goal with this newsletter is to track key hires and departures, rising stars in the industry, growing companies and all elements related to talent. As this is the first edition of an evolving newsletter, we welcome your feedback and suggestions!
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🛣️ Take me home, country roads
Wyoming's push towards crypto friendly regulation is opening up new jobs in the state, with roles currently available as a Bank Examiner and Fiduciary Examiner. Of note, a $50,000 salary in Cheyenne, Wyoming is equivalent to $97,000 in NYC! In other news of places you've heard of, but probably haven't been to, Anchorage, the red hot crypto custody company is opening up it's "second headquarters" in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
With regulations pushing some companies out of certain jurisdictions (ala Circle slowly backing out of the US with Poloniex), it'll be interesting to see if these more friendly jurisdictions like Wyoming can actually steal some thunder/talent from places like San Francisco and New York (I'm still doubtful).
⭐️ The 26 year old rising star behind Facebook's Libra - CNBC
While former PayPal exec David Marcus was busy serving as the face of Facebook's Libra foray, getting grilled in front of US regulators in Washington DC, the unsung hero of the project might actually be Morgan Beller. Described as a "charismatic, optimistic and energetic hustler", Morgan's stock is quickly rising internally at Facebook and within the broader crypto community.
Regardless of your thoughts on Libra, Morgan appears to be someone worth keeping an eye on as her career trajectory continues moving upwards.
💯 Fortunes (500) Made in Blockchain?
Fortune recently released the 2019 edition of the "Fortune 500" and I did a little digging on the top 10. Out of top 10 companies on Fortune's list, 9 of them have begun experimenting with blockchain technology in some form or another. Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Apple, Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, McKesson, CVS Health, AT&T and AmerisourceBergen are all either building a product involving blockchain technology, have filed a patent or have joined an industry consortium to begin experimenting.
Our friend Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, who was spared the prospect of eating lunch with Justin Sun this week, is the only company with no major press around blockchain plans, although a dive into investment subsidiaries would likely show more results.
Talent demand stays strong - TeqAtlas
After pulling data from a number of the top job related sites like AngelList, Glassdoor and LinkedIn, research firm teQatlas recently posted some analysis that points to the job market within the crypto industry successfully weathering the 2018 bear market storm.
An interesting note from Glassdoor's data points to London being the top "International Hub by Number of Blockchain Related Job Offerings", ahead of NYC, SF, Silicon Valley, Singapore and Hong Kong. While I'm a bit unfamiliar with the cryptocurrency scene in London, I find it hard to believe it's ahead of SF, NYC or Singapore as a crypto hub, so I'd likely attribute that to a major enterprise employer within London having a lot of job posts on Glassdoor 🤷♂️.
👩⚖️ Prominent Crypto Lawyer on the Move
Joshua Ashley Klayman, a well known lawyer in the cryptocurrency world, is returning back to big law after starting her own consulting firm last year. Klayman was recently appointed as US Head of Fintech and Head of Blockchain/Digital Assets at Linklaters, a top-50 law firm in the US. Klayman was previously described by Kathleen Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos, “one of the strongest legal minds in the blockchain space”. With her prominent industry presence and established client relationships, I'm keeping an eye on the growth of Linklater's blockchain practice under the direction of Joshua's leadership.
📞 Calling All Software Engineers - Apply here
Proof of Talent currently has a number of clients that are seeking software engineers at a variety of levels. If you're interested in one of the opportunities below, or know someone who is, I'd love to hear from you (we pay a $1,000 referral bonus for successfully place candidates!). Here's a preview of some of the roles we have 👇
Lead Full Stack Engineer - NYC - +5 years experience with C++, Java or Go for a data/API company
Front End Engineer - NYC - Hiring React, Javascript engineers with one year experience, all the way up to VP level talent
Infrastructure Engineer - Boston - Seeking a Kubernetes ninja in Bahston
Lead Engineer - NYC - Management level engineer who still enjoys hands-on coding for an onchain data company
Until next time
If you have any tips, stories or information regarding talent in the crypto industry, please send it over and we're happy to evaluate and include it!
If you found this newsletter helpful or enlightening, we'd be grateful for you to pass it along to your friends!
Best Regards,
Rob Paone
Founder of Proof Of Talent - A blockchain & crypto focused recruiting firm