Overview
This blockchain jobs guide is a comprehensive overview of any and all information you need for a career in blockchain. It includes information on how to get involved with the decade’s most exciting technology, which companies are entering the space, and what skills you need to make the leap, explained simply. This guide will also dive into the future of blockchain and what the current blockchain technology industry is likely to look like in the coming years. We also dive deep into the specifics of the industry, and present many different possible job paths on blockchain, and the end of the article contains a detailed FAQ section that answers some of the most common questions we at BlockDriven Academy receive about jobs and careers in the blockchain industry, both specific and general.
Pre 2012 to 2016
From 2012-2016, the blockchain industry did not receive much attention and most initial careers were only for developers. According to Burning Glass Technologies, “Five years ago, in 2012, we could find only a few vacancies demanding blockchain skills. By 2016 this number grew up to 1,838 messages, and 3,958 messages were made in the middle of 2017. It is 115% more than in 2016.” Most companies were startups around this time. For example, Axion in 2016 used Ethereum, smart contracts, and actual transactional law agreements on blockchain.
Another company named Toptal was founded in 2010, beginning as a virtual property with no physical offices. The firm matches business engagements with developers from its network and brokers. In 2015, the company expanded to include freelance design. In 2016, it acquired the freelancer platform Skillbridge, which offered freelance accountants, statisticians, and consultants in market research, financial modeling, and due diligence.
2017
Toptal saw a rise in recognition in 2017 because of the public’s interest in blockchain related currency and technology. The demand for blockchain engineering talent on Toptal grew 700 percent, and 40 percent of the fully managed software development projects requested in the last month require blockchain skills. During that time, Toptal developed personality, language, and skills testing to remotely screen engineering candidates, and accepted the top 3% of several thousand monthly applicants. In 2017, the company launched a vertical specializing in software engineers and designers for the automotive industry.
2018-2020
In 2018, blockchain professions as a whole saw a continual increase on job listing sites. Companies like Upwork, a freelance talent marketplace, saw a 6,000% increase in blockchain job growth because of the 2017 surge in notoriety. Continuous doubled growth between three of the financial quarters made it the highest growing skill on their site. This growth is due to large organizations making a new vertical to aggressively research blockchain.
Much like the rest of the San Francisco crypto-trading demographic, Kraken began the year 2020 by expanding their company with an additional 250 employees due to Bitcoin halving in price. Unfortunately, COVID-19 came and changed the entire world a mere few months later. With lockdown and remote working, an industry that is maintaining regular success is blockchain. Consumers have become more desperate trying to find ways of making money off assets, and investing in blockchain and cryptocurrencies products appears to be increasingly popular. The blockchain space, especially careers within it, is not just keeping the pace they were expected to in 2020, but is actually growing at a faster rate than originally anticipated.
With COVID-19 rising to prominence and people investing more into digital assets, Kraken felt confident enough to increase their job hiring up to 350 positions, and the availability of work-from-home jobs went up as well. There was a 61% increase of signups for job openings in March alone, and Kraken aimed to take advantage of that. Some of the remote positions that companies are looking to hire are brokers, business developers, engineers (infrastructure, front end, software), and developers (front end, back end, full stack).
The current pandemic continues to define 2020, causing companies to hire more remote positions especially in the blockchain space. Alongside there have been efforts by the public to take up digital assets increasing the market growth and confidence from companies to keep expanding job positions.
BlockchainDriven July 7th Session
On July 7th BlockchainDriven held a seminar discussing blockchain careers, going through different companies and their success through the years. This session highlights how to get into the blockchain industry and insight into working in the field. For more information look in the BlockDriven Academy seminar, click here.
- “Basic understanding of what blockchain is. What blockchain protocols exist and how are they different and how could they be used here and there.”
- “Architecture has to deal with common sense mostly,” and how to build up and understand how a company wants to build their network with company and client.
One of the most important aspects of a blockchain industry is community. To maintain success in the blockchain space, one must establish a relationship between company and clients. Looking at a consultant job, Peter Borovykh highlighted “Most important business development/consultant’s main responsibilities is to build a community. As a consultant, if you’re not going to events, webinars, participating at workshops, you should be trying to engage the community. In the financial project you have to build a community of users on that specific blockchain. If you’re not building a community, then you are failing your job.”
- “Tech [knowledge] not dealing with coding experience. Most important to effectively communicate between the client and tech team.”
Blockchain is currently the biggest disruptive technology in the world, as it is capable of transforming any industry it touches. Both well established firms and startups recognise this potential and are acting upon it. For individuals who want to get involved, and don't necessarily have a tech background, joining a blockchain community online is a smart way to get familiar with the technology. Having a support system and online resources, such as lectures/seminars, can help you develop expertise much faster.
Entry to the blockchain space can be difficult, but startups are a great place to begin. Startup companies have been the largest contributors of blockchain development to date. According to AngelList, as of June 2020, over 3,800 crypto startups have been created. Cointelegraph lists the 10 most impactful blockchain startups in 2020 as the following:
These are companies that solely operate businesses around blockchain technology. There is a great possibility that they will lead the industry with innovations in the future.
It’s not just startups that are making waves. Although startups are easier to enter, there are more established organizations that are also actively exploring blockchain solutions. However, a career in blockchain is no different from a career in traditional industries. Not everyone working in blockchain needs to be a developer. There are others roles in the space just like in traditional sectors. There are abundant openings for project managers, legal consultants, marketing specialists, community/relationship managers, and much more. Opportunities can be found in blockchain startups, tech firms, government agencies, and legacy companies.
The finance industry is the first to be transformed by blockchain. Major banks are racing to keep up to date with the new technology. In February 2019, J.P. Morgan became the first US bank to launch a digital coin representing fiat currency. The coin titled JPM Coin is a digital currency based on blockchain technology. It has a pegged value equivalent to one U.S dollar. The coin is designed to enable instantaneous transfer of payments between clients.
The JPM coin is issued on Quorum Blockchain, which is an enterprise-focused platform developed by J.P. Morgan for processing transactions between permissioned participants. Quorum is built specifically for financial services. Some major financial institutions such as MUFG have already adopted Quorum as a solution to strengthen transaction and contract privacy and transaction efficiency.
Not only is it growing in the private sector, the Chinese government has been working on digitizing the Yuan for the past several years. In March 2020, the Bank of China claimed completion of digital Yuan’s basic functions, and they moved to the process of drafting laws and regulations. In April, the first screenshots of a digital Yuan application surfaced online. The screenshot suggests tests are being conducted in 4 cities: Shenzhen, Xiong’an, Chengdu and Suzhou. News outlets in China suggest the official launch date for digital Yuan will be middle of 2021. The next 12-24 months will be decisive for the successful initiation for the program.
There are approximately 20 countries researching the issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Other than the US and China, the list includes some of the world’s largest economies such as England, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The mass adoption of CBDC has not happened yet, but it will likely occur in the foreseeable future.
“Leaders no longer consider the technology groundbreaking and merely promising—they now see it as integral to organizational innovation.”
This upwards trend in mainstream blockchain implementation is projected to continuously rise. This is especially promising considering the full possibilities of blockchain technology likely remain undiscovered thus far. Furthermore, widespread use of blockchain technology is expected to be the most significant innovation that has resulted from the cryptocurrency boom in the past decade.
Gartner, a leading global research and advisory firm, predicts that blockchain will support the movement and tracking of $2 trillion of goods and services annually across the globe by 2023. Because of blockchain technology infiltrating nearly every industry, there will be a subsequent surge in job opportunities for companies seeking to adopt blockchain technology.
Incorporating blockchain into companies’ business models gives immense value to the company once it has been integrated. The revolutionary technology behind blockchain has the ability to optimize nearly every aspect of projects or workflow across every industry sector.
“Whether streamlining multiparty processes, creating and trading new assets, or leveraging artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, blockchain enables entirely new business opportunities.”
These smart contracts are essential to the future of blockchain technology because they are expected to expand into virtually every field of business in which traditional contract law currently applies.
Additionally, blockchain technology aims to revolutionize the way online identity management is perceived and handled. Identity security has become one of the most problematic and misunderstood outcomes of the modern internet era. With data hacks becoming more frequent and sophisticated, companies must prioritize data security and management in order to prevent hackers who are looking to profit off users’ digital assets and identity.
Online identity management using blockchain technology could improve significant processes such as the electoral voting process, real estate rental or ownership, social networking, and more. These advancements would completely alter the way we perceive entire industries, and blockchain-related careers will be more in demand than ever before.
“Online identity and reputation will be decentralized. We will own the data that belongs to us.”
According to Gartner, the five main elements of blockchain include encryption, immutability, tokenization, decentralization, and distribution. Based on this spectrum, we are currently in the “blockchain-inspired solutions” phase which generally uses distribution, encryption, and immutability. This means that these blockchain implementations are typically of limited scope and focus on addressing specific operational issues on the enterprise-level.
As we progress through the 2020s, we are expected to reach blockchain’s full potential. This would utilize all five core elements in the “blockchain-complete solutions” phase. Therefore, these next several years are pivotal to make the career switch into blockchain roles. Entirely new precedents will be set regarding business models, traditional transactions, and the tracking of goods and services.
The “blockchain-enhanced solutions” phase post 2025 will consist of all five elements plus the integration of complementary technologies such as AI, IoT, and decentralized self-sovereign identity (SSI). This phase will emphasize the full capabilities of smart contracts, digital identity and ownership, user privacy, and laws and regulations. At this point, large corporations and startups alike will have implemented blockchain technology as it makes its way into mainstream adoption. With such a rapidly approaching goal as seen through Gartner’s spectrum, now is the time to join this community.
IBM’s blockchain project aims to build an Internet of Things platform that incorporates blockchain and AI. In this project, the IBM Blockchain allows business partners to securely share IoT data without any central management. Some examples that use IBM’s blockchain platform include freight transportation, component tracking and compliance, and logging operational maintenance data. As one of the leaders in the blockchain space, IBM is actively hiring hundreds of blockchain positions in order to bring their many ideas to reality across a myriad of sectors.
Considering a vast number of companies would answer yes to all three of these questions, blockchain serves as a dependable, innovative solution to these problems. Blockchain can bring more value to companies upon integration due to greater communication, trust, safety, and connectivity. As more companies come to this realization, blockchain technology will begin to be the standard way of doing business. The career opportunities in blockchain-related positions are only increasing, and the time to get involved is right now considering how bright the future of blockchain is proving to be.
Blockchain technology will promote new opportunities for the healthcare industry. Blockchain solutions will enhance data efficiency and transparency, drug supply chain management, and drug clinical trials. A report conducted by BIS Research indicates that the global blockchain healthcare market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 63.85%, and reach a value of $5.61 billion by 2025. Furthermore, blockchain technology could save the healthcare industry up to $100 billion per year by 2025 in data breach-related costs, IT costs, operations costs, support function costs, personnel costs, and through a reduction in frauds and counterfeit products.
Health Data Interoperability and Security
Currently, the amount of information shared among hospitals, physicians, institutions, and other providers is very minimal. Disparate record-keeping systems frequently lead to incomplete and conflicting medical histories. Blockchain technology allows a patient's health history to be uploaded and retrieved at the other end of the network in near real-time. It eliminates a central gatekeeping, and all patient records can be reliably transferred when needed. The shared ledger enables participants on the platform to access all information and history of patients. Thus, it helps to advance interoperability in the healthcare ecosystem.
At its core, blockchain is about privacy and security. The data shared on blockchain is nearly impossible to be hacked. Therefore, blockchain strengthens medical records’ confidentiality by eliminating exposure to unauthorized third-parties.
"This technology allows participants to move data in real-time, without the need for reconciliation, because each participant is connecting to the same network, working on shared information, and collaborating peer-to-peer — all without exposing these channels to theft, forgery and malice," according to Gem. "Because the integrity of this history can be proved with mathematics, everyone can trust that it is secure and true.”Drug Supply Chain Management
Blockchain for the supply chain extends to the healthcare industry as well, increasing data availability and transparency through the process. Adoption of blockchain helps all drug supply chain participants share and access trusted data. Blockchain makes it easier to track origin and authenticity of pharmaceutical products, thus preventing falsified medication. Pharmaceutical companies lose approximately $200 billion due to counterfeit drugs each year. The costs saved by blockchain could be reinvested into discovery of new drugs and hiring health professionals to increase quality of care for patients.
Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials
The research for new medicine is still the primary objective for many healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, there is no proper system for clinical trials management. Clinical trials usually generate large amounts of data, which requires healthcare professionals to keep reliable and consistent records for peer review and to meet regulatory requirements. Blockchain has the ability to automatically aggregate, replicate and distribute research data among all professionals on the platform.
Health Insurance
Blockchain has the potential to bring efficiency to the health insurance process. Health insurance processes are subject to an increasing number of frauds each year. Blockchain can settle payments and transactions at real-time. It can also automatically verify a patient's contract identification and authorize payment process in a situation when patients or clinics are dealing with health insurance plans. Among all areas that could be implemented with blockchain technology, the market for blockchain in health insurance is expected to experience the fastest growth rate, with a CAGR of 70.2%.
Careers in Healthcare with Blockchain
Blockchain has countless implications for different stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. The transition to blockchain-based solutions will create a large amount of job openings. Blockchain jobs in the healthcare sector that are on the rise include project manager, risk analyst, marketing specialist, community manager, and product manager.
Marketing Specialists
Blockchain needs to be understood by the broader public to reach its full value. This is why there is a huge demand for marketing specialists in blockchain. In general, blockchain technology needs marketing specialists to help develop a social presence to achieve mass adoption.
Risk Analysts
In health care, risks come from faulty equipment and medicines, medical malpractice, financial mistakes, and many other accidents. Risk management in health care is significant because it’s frequently a matter of life or death. All stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem, such as health insurance companies, pharmaceutical research centers and hospitals need risk analysts to mitigate and prevent risks. Installation of blockchain into the healthcare industry will create more opportunities for risk analysts due to emergence of new projects and products.
Blockchain is most developed in the finance industry. The first standout item to emerge from the Blockchain technology was cryptocurrency, which rapidly grew in popularity and market capitalization. Startup crypto hedge funds and exchanges began popping up, which has attracted individuals from the finance sector -- even without significant Blockchain and cryptocurrency experience.
Jobs at Crypto Hedge Funds:
Asset Manager
Asset Management is a pillar in the finance industry. And with the arrival of cryptocurrencies as possible investments, there’s no surprise that hedge funds entered the space as soon as they did. An important development has been the professionalism which crypto hedge funds have adopted. One could imagine that the earliest crypto hedge funds were not founded and run by individuals heavily experienced in asset management, but rather those well versed in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Because of its relative unpopularity before 2017, crypto hedge funds had very low market caps and experience. However, the space is rapidly maturing. In 2018 the cumulative investment experience within a fund was 24. Now it is around 50. This number speaks to two things: 1. The movement of professionals from a typical finance institution to the crypto space; and 2. The survival and success of crypto hedge funds that emphasize asset management experience more than anything else is on the rise. This statistic is something important to consider when assessing job security in the Blockchain space.
Quantitative Trading
Working with start-ups has its risks. They frequently go under, which could leave you without a job very suddenly. It has been found that the price of Bitcoin and the success of a crypto hedge fund are very closely related. When Bitcoin crashed in 2018, nearly 30% of hedge funds ceased to exist.
As across all firms in finance, certain strategies are applied to making money. The same applies to crypto. It was found that Quantitative investing was the most successful strategy. Even in the 2018 Bitcoin crash, crypto firms that emphasized quantitative trading were up. Everyone else was down. From this analysis, when curious about a job in crypto hedge funds, Quantitative emphasis may garner the best job security.
Opportunities at top crypto hedge funds:
Investment Associate (Pantera Capital)
Quantitative Researcher (Altonomy)
Cryptocurrency Researcher (Polychain Capital)
Summer Internship - Cryptocurrency Researcher (Polychain Capital)Jobs at Crypto Exchanges:
Operations
Working for an exchange has changed significantly over the years. Prior to the digital era, the trading of assets took place manually, demanding consistent operators executing trades on the trade floor. Digitization mostly eliminated that inefficiency. Powered by blockchain, crypto exchanges have added another layer of speed and price efficiency. No trades are done manually on a crypto exchange, so one could expect mainly quantitative-driven jobs. “Operations” lies at the core of the role of exchanges. Functioning as a medium between buyers and sellers, operations teams ensure the fluidity and efficiency of trades. This includes recognizing bugs in servers, prioritizing high-volume traders, and evaluating operational inefficiencies to discover ways to streamline trading functionalities.
Employers
Kraken, a top global crypto exchange, has a handful of job listings. One should expect heavy technical requirements. From all job listings from Kraken, requirements include experience and knowledge of one or more programming languages. However, professional knowledge in the crypto and Blockchain space is not necessary. Though interest and experience with digital assets and their functions is preferable, Kraken, as well as other exchanges, seem to be inviting professionals from spaces beyond blockchain. This has been a continuous trend among blockchain-based companies.
Positions Kraken is hiring for:
Backend Engineer Crypto/Payments
Product Manager, Accounts & Payments, Cryptowatch
Supply chain management involves supervising the flow of the transfer of goods and services from the manufacturing point to the receiving client. Workflow optimization is extremely important in supply chain management. Managers must maintain a strict budget and time frame. Additionally, managers are in charge of streamlining this process from the business to the client in order to maximize customer satisfaction and profits.
“Anything that you can conceive of as a supply chain, blockchain can vastly improve its efficiency- it doesn’t matter if its people, numbers, data, money.”
Grocery
In a report conducted by the University College of London, the grocery sector was the most dominant field utilizing blockchain technology. Over half of the projects studied were involved in grocery, followed by healthcare and fashion. Additionally, out of all of the projects, only 15% remained in the early production phase while the majority were already in the pilot phase (with a significant amount reaching the development phase). The grocery sector benefits greatly from blockchain technology due to its heavy dependence on supply chain management, as detailed in the previous section above.
Major companies such as Nestle, Walmart, Tyson, Target, and others are becoming increasingly involved in blockchain via IBM’s Food Trust due to blockchain’s advanced methods of tracking goods across the globe. Blockchain provides secure tracking which is especially important in the grocery sector for instances such as food recalls. One such instance is Walmart's implementation of a food tracing blockchain. In 2018, Walmart launched their Food Traceability Initiative to transition into blockchain tracking of their supply chain to further optimize the grocery food system.
The grocery sector widely benefits from aspects of inventory control and management through blockchain. It can be used to track every single good and transaction being completed on a global scale. Accountability of food subsequently assists in sustainability efforts to reduce food waste, mislabeling, and illegal production of food. Improving food safety and increasing efficacy are main factors in why blockchain is so successful in this sector, and therefore opens up new career possibilities every day.
The combination of growth in both supply chain management and the grocery sector as a whole, leads to vast career opportunities in nearly every position. This is especially apparent in the rising demand for web developers, which has been increasing due to the numerous large corporations looking to build platforms and become involved in the space. Developers and engineers are essential to bring these large ideas to reality in order for these companies to enter into the production stages.
The blockchain grocery industry is expanding rapidly, and the need for blockchain developers is greater than ever. While there are roughly 30 million developers around the world, the number of blockchain developers remains in merely the several hundred thousands.
Retail
Industries like retail and fashion are also being impacted by blockchain. With the help of blockchain, retail companies are able to tag physical products with a digital identity, track loyalty points securely in real time, reduce transaction fees when payments are made in cryptocurrency, reduce chargeback losses by accepting cryptocurrency payments, and check on inventory in real time using smart contracts. Blockchain in the retail market was valued at $113.72 million in 2019 and is expected to reach $1936.68 million by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60.4% over the forecast period. Transparency in the retail supply chain, as well as demand for improved customer service, is driving the market growth.
Retail Digital Identity
Blockchain technology can change how we identify products. Physical items can get a digital identity specifically at fashion companies. Creating a peer-to-peer ecosystem which is designed to allow a consumer direct knowledge and contact with any member involved in the creation process like designer, model, stylist, etc. and have the access to see the entire process, is incredibly beneficial. A viewer can invest in the early stages of product designing through a token system.
How does this address fake items? Alibaba is building a blockchain application that “allows buyers to trace the journey from factory to front door by scanning it, thus knowing if it is an original piece or not. Similarly, very recently the payments giant, Mastercard, announced its new blockchain-based product tracking solution which, it says, would “provide a clear record of traceability” as it is “designed to contribute to consumer confidence and trust by creating awareness of the authenticity of the product.”
The impact that blockchain is set to have on the fashion industry is huge but for that to materialize, considerable investment is required to construct the systems to support it. The real-time access to streamlined product information that blockchain technology provides will inevitably enable retailers to scrutinize stock status as well as customer feedback. Eventually, because of the surge in the blockchain-based platforms, deals struck with middlemen can be expected to slowly come to a halt as there will be more transparent communication between manufacturers, brands and the consumers.
While this example focuses on fashion, seeing as how this can further branch out to other retail industries, allowing customers to look into the entire process of material being made, is very promising. With services like Amazon or food delivery like GrubHub or UberEats, blockchain can verify the items bought without having to physically check, smoothing the entire process.
Retail Loyalty Reward System
“Many companies are always searching for new, innovative ways to be more cost efficient, but usually, loyalty programs are time and cost intensive. Companies can decrease the overall administrative and personnel costs due to blockchain's ability to execute programs in near real-time with clarity. Using blockchain also reduces the cost of security, development, integration and reconciliation.”
Any company that wants to maintain consistent traffic and revenue usually wants to use a reward system to improve customer experience and incentivize return customers. With the use of blockchain, loyalty points are recorded, allowing anyone a view of points issued, redeemed or exchanged. This is transparency and speed for producers and consumers making this process verifiable.Careers in Retail
In the retail industry, there are many different jobs relating to blockchain technology. These positions will be crucial in the further evolution of changing the retail industry with the help of blockchain. This section will be covering and highlighting specifically human resources and business development.
Companies Hiring Business Development Roles:
Director of Sales & Business Development
As in any other position, human resources is mainly looking at the hiring process. With a position in blockchain dealing with the hiring process, it is ever-evolving. The blockchain market is growing, which means companies are becoming more confident in their product and for the future. Thus, wanting to hire more positions for their company is only natural. In the retail industry with companies opening more positions, there will be candidates with large amounts of knowledge applying. Human resources will have to create higher standards of hiring for positions like developer, engineer, marketer, and more.
Companies Hiring Human Resources Roles:
The power of transparency has been the most useful asset for governments and NGOs. It gives them the ability to track certain transaction activities on supply chain networks and beyond. Particularly, the United Nations has begun to take initiatives to disrupt global criminal activity of illegally forested lumber. The catastrophic deforestation of our world’s rainforests has pushed the U.N. to find new ways of disrupting this. Using Blockchain technology, the data behind lumber out of our rainforests can be identified and tracked from start to finish. In this way, the UNDP, under the UN, has the capability to prevent criminal activity before the lumber even arrives on the supply chain, minimizing the market and potential for a buyer on the other side.
Another standout project is the tracing of migrant workers across the African continent. Often unassociated with a country, migrant workers are only identifiable by their work contracts -- which are often subject to mistreatment and manipulation. The Mekong Club has developed projects to trace and secure the cross-national work contracts of migrant workers on a blockchain network to ensure fair and legal treatment of the employees.
“By creating a ‘virtual identity’ on the blockchain, using unique biometric information such as fingerprint and iris scans, the need for paper documentation is removed. Additionally, the immutability of the blockchain means that the practice of forging identification in order to illegally transport victims over borders would be made futile.”
Projects like these demand a variety of professionals. Though the role of the web developer may be obvious in this case, there are a handful of other positions that need to be filled. Product Management is an essential part of working in the public sector. This is especially true because communicating to forces on the ground about the application of blockchain can be particularly difficult. In many cases, it is an advanced technology being applied to rather underdeveloped infrastructure systems. With this, product managers need to be able assess firsthand challenges and communicate them to the back-end teams.
Available jobs:
Finding Blockchain based jobs in the public sector is relatively more difficult than others. This is because many developments and project-building occurs internally. However, organizations such as UNICEF have “innovation” divisions which undoubtedly will be working with blockchain technology. There are also NGOs that focus heavily on innovation and its application to world problems, which, too, will be applying blockchain more and more often in the future.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain can be described as a decentralized data network that holds transaction records, all while being vastly secure, transparent, and unauthorized. There is no central figure on the blockchain, which enables the democratization of information, data, and decision making.
How is Blockchain Related to Cryptocurrencies?
The ownership of a cryptocurrency is secured on blockchain. In essence, due to the blockchain structure, cryptocurrencies are the most secure assets, which is why it has multiplied in value over the years. Blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrencies.
What’s So Special About Blockchain?
Blockchain is revolutionizing transaction data on a mass scale. By verifying information at unmatched rates, Blockchain is building a future of more efficiency across time and space in our increasingly globalized world.
How is Blockchain Related to Other Industries?
In the age of information, Blockchain is applicable to nearly every industry. From record keeping in the healthcare industry, to verifying transactions in finance, to identifying, protecting and tracking the movements of migrant workers, Blockchain is beginning to reach out to every economy across the globe. In the future, being able to use Blockchain will be a necessity, just as using the internet is necessary for basically any industry today.
How is Blockchain Used in Finance?
Blockchain has been applied in finance for both centralized and decentralized assets. The rise of cryptocurrencies, at first, introduced crypto hedge funds and exchanges which attracted experienced investors to the field. However, established banks are beginning to apply blockchain technology to further improve the security and efficiency of centralized assets.
How is Blockchain Used in Healthcare?
Healthcare is one of Blockchain’s largest users. Patient data and logistics are beginning to be secured on a decentralized network. In an attempt to create a shared network across all healthcare institutions to streamline treatment and care effectiveness, blockchain has become an essential application.
How is Blockchain Used in Supply Chain Management?
Blockchain ensures the security of data transactions, as well as degrees of transparency. In supply chain management, blockchain is beginning to revolutionize global transactions. It aims to both ensure legal compliance of distributors as well as demand transparency of the transported products around the world -- minimizing criminal activity and illegal transactions.
How is Blockchain Used in Retail?
Retail attracts Blockchain technology for data and transaction purposes. For one, transparency of retail data across the industry can help companies understand their consumers more, and vise versa. By putting transaction data on the decentralized network, it can be viewed, manipulated and analyzed to minimize product waste and the production of unwanted items.
Is Blockchain Used by Government Entities?
In June 2020, China announced its partnership with a digital coin. To stay ahead of the curve of untraceable transactions, the government is working to grasp some kind of control. The US government seems to be much further behind in catching up with digital asset markets. International organizations and NGOs however seem to be at the forefront in the sector of applying blockchain technology. Groups have applied Blockchain technology to various projects such as disrupting the supply chain of illegal lumber and tracking, and protecting the movements of African migrant workers.
What are the Benefits and Risks of Blockchain Development?
How do I build a career in Blockchain?
Educate yourself. Reading about Blockchain developments and news is a way to get started, but you can always build your knowledge and understanding by getting more in depth on certain protocols and learning what firms are doing today to revolutionize the space. BlockDriven Academy is one place to start. Your subscription provides both introductory and in-depth material to help foster curiosity about the space.
Check out BlockDriven Academy here to jumpstart your understanding of blockchain.
What Skills or Experience is Needed to Enter the Blockchain Industry?
Some skills are necessary to enter the space. Web developers familiar with blockchain are the highest demanded workers in America today. As a web developer, this space has become very attractive in terms of salary and significance. Though skills in web development are a huge plus, they’re not always a must. Given industry specialists that have a general understanding of Blockchain may have a place in Blockchain projects. Being able to function as a liaison between backend development and frontend marketing and selling of the product is very sought after in the blockchain industry.
Who is hiring Blockchain Jobs in Finance?
Both employers from established institutions and startups have been hiring Blockchain based jobs. See the ‘Career Outlook’ section for specific job opportunities. One could expect two types of jobs in Blockchain finance:
Experienced professionals particularly in the start-up space
Technical web developers, particularly among established institutions
One can imagine that startups lack the field experience, while established groups lack innovative mindset mentalities.
Who is Hiring Blockchain Jobs in Healthcare?
Healthcare is hiring across a variety of experiences. From web development to industry experience, see the ‘Career Outlook’ for more information about what firms are hiring.
Who is Hiring Blockchain Jobs in Supply Chain Management?
Project management is one of the stand out roles in supply chain management. See the ‘Career Outlook’ section for more information about what firms are hiring.
Who is Hiring Blockchain Jobs in Government, NGOs, and International Organizations?
Hiring in this space is a little more tricky. There haven’t been any outstanding public sectors hiring employers. However, organizations such as the UN and certain NGOs have divisions that specialize in innovation, which in recent years have become closely linked to blockchain. See the ‘Career Outlook’ section for more information.
Who is Hiring Blockchain Jobs in Retail?
Blockchain in retail attracts a wide range of experiences and skills. See the ‘Career Outlook’ section for more information about what firms are hiring.
Where Should I Look to Stay Updated?
BlockDriven Academy, as well as other news sources, are essential to keeping updated. It is important, however, more than anywhere else, to read with a critical eye. Blockchain news is often filled with misleading information, so make sure to be aware of your sources.
Established news sources are often the most reliable in sharing information. Bloomberg has a news section entirely for crypto and blockchain, so that may be a good starting point.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to create a course?
