Written by: Mankun Lawyer, Mankun Law Firm
Recently, Mankun Law Firm compiled the legal consultation cases of clients for the third quarter of 2024 and found an interesting phenomenon: more and more Web3 workers are beginning to seek legal consultations regarding employment issues.
According to data from Mankun Law Firm, during the entire third quarter, 42% of employment consultants were willing to pay for in-depth consultations. Most of the consulted job positions came from centralized exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Bitget, and also involved sectors related to virtual currencies, such as DeFi and wallets. In terms of positions, the most consulted ones were usually business BD, followed by programmers and product managers. Additionally, most of the workers seeking consultation usually come from the traditional internet Web2 industry, thus they are more cautious about Web3 employment.
However, users consulting with the law firm are only a tiny fraction of the Web3 employment army. To gain a deeper understanding of the current Web3 employment situation and security issues, more professional analysis is needed. For this reason, Mankun Law Firm specially interviewed a long-time recruiter in Web3, J.C. Nakamoto, to provide more multidimensional reference information regarding Web3 employment trends and job seeker consultations.
Q: Mankun Law Firm
What changes have occurred in the overall recruitment demand in the Web3 market from 2023 to 2024? Which sectors (projects) have significant demand, and what categories of positions are there?
A: J.C. Nakamoto
In the past two years, driven by the development of the Web3 market, technological innovation, and industry trends, the demand for Web3 recruitment is currently showing stable growth. Meanwhile, the variety of recruitment positions is also gradually increasing. In addition to traditional technical development roles, the demand for non-technical positions is also rising, such as product managers, marketing, community management, etc. The growth in demand for these positions indicates that the Web3 industry is gradually evolving from a purely technology-driven sector into a diversified ecosystem.
From the industry track perspective, DeFi remains a hot sector in the Web3 field, with a very high demand for talent, primarily in positions such as smart contract development, financial product design, and security auditing; secondly, blockchain infrastructure construction is also a sector with many positions, especially for talents needed for the development and maintenance of blockchain networks and protocol layers; additionally, influenced by the overall narrative of the Web3 ecosystem, the rise of decentralized IoT (DePIN), artificial intelligence (AI), and MEME Coin has also brought new employment opportunities. Although projects like MEME COIN, which have an entertainment nature, remain popular, their long-term value still needs to be considered.
In terms of job types, technical positions still dominate the demand, with common needs including blockchain developers, smart contract engineers, front-end and back-end developers, and security experts; secondly, the demand for marketing (MKT) positions is gradually increasing, such as marketing personnel responsible for brand promotion, community operation, and user growth strategies. These positions generally have higher requirements for spoken English, with many requiring native-level English or the ability to use English as a working language; other positions in high demand include quantitative traders (preferably graduates from top schools) and product managers. The demand for these positions indicates that having relevant skills and experience will be very valuable for job seekers in Web3.
Q: Mankun Law Firm
From our current observations and the profiles of job seekers consulting with the law firm, it seems that most positions are offered by exchanges or DeFi projects, and most projects are hiring primarily for business BD or MKT-related positions, which is consistent with the changes in recruitment demand you just shared. What do you think this change in recruitment demand signifies?
A: J.C. Nakamoto
From current observations, exchanges and DeFi projects occupy an important position in the Web3 field, providing a large number of job opportunities, especially in business development (BD) and marketing (MKT) related positions. I believe this is a norm in the development stage of the Web3 industry, as the field has moved past the stage of barbaric growth, and internal competition is very fierce, especially between exchanges and DeFi projects, with over 20,000 virtual currency exchanges worldwide according to statistics. To gain more market share and user base, these companies need strong business development and marketing teams to expand their business and influence.
Meanwhile, whether in Web2 or Web3, the user is king, which has always been the key to a company's success. The paths to acquiring users generally include: building brand awareness and occupying user mindshare; using marketing strategies such as partnerships and promotional activities to attract and retain users; expanding and adapting to new markets and cultures through a global team. BD and MKT positions play important roles in these aspects.
Q: Mankun Law Firm
From your perspective, what kind of talent is currently most lacking in the Web3 industry? We all know that Web3 has barriers. Therefore, from the project parties' perspective, do they prefer to hire Web3 practitioners or are they equally welcoming to Web2 personnel? Do you think this user profile might change in the future?
A: J.C. Nakamoto
Current Web3 industry positions can generally be divided into technical and non-technical types. Technical types usually include:
Blockchain developers, especially those proficient in blockchain protocols and smart contract development with experience in mainstream blockchain platforms like Ethereum, Solana, and Polkadot, remain a scarce resource.
Security experts are highly welcomed in Web3 projects due to the significant financial transactions involved; thus, experts with blockchain security auditing and protection capabilities are in high demand.
Cross-chain technology experts are in high demand as cross-chain interoperability is a key aspect of blockchain, requiring personnel capable of designing and implementing cross-chain solutions in Web3.
Non-technical talent, which refers to the product managers and marketing professionals I mentioned earlier. The main requirement for these positions is to understand Web3 and to be user-friendly from both product and operational perspectives.
As for whether current Web3 project parties prefer to hire Web3 practitioners or Web2 personnel, based on my experience with Web3 project parties, this usually depends on the specific job requirements and project stage: for positions that require a deep understanding of blockchain technology and decentralized concepts, such as technical development and security auditing, project parties tend to prefer hiring professionals with Web3 backgrounds; for roles that require large-scale user growth and market expansion, Web2 experience is more valuable. Talents from Web2 can bring mature product development and market operation experience, helping Web3 projects better target the mainstream market.
It can be expected that with the popularization of Web3 technology and the promotion of education, more talents with Web2 backgrounds will shift to Web3, which will not only narrow the gap in technology and concepts but also give birth to more interdisciplinary talents. This will drive further development and innovation in the Web3 industry.
Q: Mankun Law Firm
Our Q3 data shows that more and more Web3 job seekers are starting to pay attention to legal compliance issues. Do you feel the same? Generally speaking, when you recommend a project position to a candidate, what issues do they usually focus on? Will there be concerns raised regarding security, legality, compensation, etc.?
A: J.C. Nakamoto
Indeed, an increasing number of candidates are asking related questions, especially when Web2 personnel transition to Web3, as the style of Web3 is completely different from traditional internet. Based on my previous experience, when recommending a position in a Web3 project to a candidate, they usually focus on several key aspects.
The first aspect is the project itself, such as project stability and prospects, project security and technical architecture, all of which will affect whether the project can develop sustainably and whether their positions can remain stable long-term. Especially regarding security, since Web3 involves the management of encrypted assets, security vulnerabilities can cause serious losses; therefore, candidates for financial projects often ask about 'What measures does the project have regarding security?' and 'Is the technical architecture reliable?'
Additionally, company culture and team building are also concerns for Web3 candidates; they often ask whether the company culture is open and innovative, the background and experience of the team, and the management style, as they worry about whether they would have difficulty integrating into the team and whether the company's values align with their own.
Of course, many Chinese job seekers, especially those from the mainland, are concerned about legal compliance issues. The most frequently asked questions I received before were about whether the project complies with relevant laws and regulations in the regions where it operates, especially those related to cryptocurrency. After all, a non-compliant project can easily face sanctions from regulatory authorities, especially for token issuance projects. On one hand, if a project is investigated, it can easily lead to its suspension, and candidates will need to seek other opportunities; more dangerously, if it involves the marketing department, as a market developer, one can easily get implicated and investigated, which is no joke.
Compensation and incentives are also a frequently asked question. For example, whether the compensation structure is competitive, and whether there are token or equity incentives. Especially in Web3 projects, it is very common for salaries to be paid in USDT or their own tokens, which means that Web3 practitioners must bear the income instability caused by market fluctuations in cryptocurrencies.
Lastly, there is also a career development-related question that has been asked quite a bit. Many candidates inquire about whether there are opportunities for growth and learning within the project, and whether they can receive support for skill enhancement and career development. If the project is too niche, will it limit future career choices?
For us, it is usually necessary to help candidates assess and select the balance between innovation and risk. Therefore, before providing advice to candidates, we will fully understand the project background and industry dynamics, as well as communicate relevant information about the position transparently. At the same time, we will also communicate with law firms and lawyers to address candidates' legal concerns.
Q: Mankun Law Firm
When it comes to project backgrounds and industry dynamics, there are many projects emerging in the Web3 industry every year, correspondingly creating numerous job opportunities. However, the quality of the project parties varies greatly, which may pose a series of problems for candidates. From your perspective, can you provide some advice for candidates to avoid pitfalls?
A: J.C. Nakamoto
When choosing employment opportunities in the Web3 industry, it is indeed necessary to carefully evaluate project parties to avoid potential risks. Here are some of my suggestions that may help everyone avoid poorly quality project parties:
Research the project background. Carefully read the project's white paper and technical documents, evaluate the feasibility and innovation of its technical solutions. Learn about the backgrounds and experiences of the project team members through their social media, official website, etc., especially their resumes in blockchain or related fields.
Evaluate financing and partnerships. Check the project's financing situation and understand the supporting investment institutions or individuals behind it; if there are well-known investors, it is usually a positive signal. Additionally, whether the project has partnerships with other well-known companies or organizations in the industry can be an indicator of its credibility.
Market reputation and community feedback. Check the project's feedback on social media and community platforms, pay attention to user and developer evaluations; also check industry analysts' or media's evaluations of the project to understand its reputation and influence in the industry. If there is no information at all, it is necessary to be cautious.
Audit and security. Confirm whether the project has undergone independent security audits, whether audit reports are publicly available, and investigate whether there have been past security incidents and how they were handled. These can reflect the project's health and also indicate how much the team values the project, which is related to its sustainability.
Legal compliance. Understand the project's legal compliance in the regions where it operates, especially concerning token issuance and financial services. If necessary, it is advisable to consult a Web3 lawyer before starting, as they usually have a more professional understanding of the project's legality.
Long-term vision and actual progress. Check the project's roadmap and current progress to see if it is advancing as planned; additionally, whether the project already has actual products and a user base, or is still at the conceptual stage. Generally, if it only remains at the conceptual stage, has nothing materialized, or is just issuing a token, there are often issues.
By conducting an in-depth evaluation of these aspects, it is possible to better identify and avoid poorly quality project parties, thus selecting employment opportunities that are more promising and credible. In general, maintaining transparency of information and conducting thorough research is key to mitigating risks.
