Author: Chandler, Foresight News
A company's recruitment can reveal its actual progress in strategic execution, while also reflecting the changing trajectory of industry demand, thus predicting the future market activity level and development potential.
According to a report released by Tiger Research, following the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January 2024, the number of job openings in the global Web3 market began to increase significantly. As market recovery expectations rise, recruitment activities have become relatively active.
In the first half of 2024, the number of Web3 job openings increased by approximately 20% year-on-year, reflecting a significant rise in industry expectations compared to last year. The increase in job openings primarily comes from crypto ETF management companies and exchanges.
In the first half of the year, Web3 job openings in the Asian market were most active in Singapore, India, and Hong Kong. Notably, the number of job openings in Singapore increased by approximately 23% compared to the second half of 2023.
With a significant increase in recruitment demand in the crypto industry, the appeal of the Web3 field is gradually extending to senior executives in Web2, forming a new trend of cross-border high-level talent influx. Senior managers from traditional internet giants are attracted to Web3 and are increasingly investing in this dynamic field, bringing mature experiences from Web2 into the innovative development of Web3.
For example, former Goldman Sachs global strategy head for asset and wealth management Peter Mintzberg joined Grayscale as CEO, former Disney global products management vice president Dan Odell joined ConsenSys as CFO, Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 hired former Citigroup executive Sean Glennan as CFO, and crypto custody institution Copper appointed former Goldman Sachs managing director Amar Kuchinad as CEO, replacing Dmitry Tokarev, while former Sony and BeInCrypto executive Vugar Usi Zade joined Bitget as Chief Operating Officer, among others.
At the same time, within Web3, there is an increasing frequency of management mobility among top institutions, with significant increases in executive 'talent migration,' further deepening the mobility and synergy of management teams in the crypto industry, accelerating competition and maturity in the Web3 sector. Binance has become a prominent 'talent magnet,' attracting executives from various companies and different backgrounds to join its team.
According to statistics from @_FORAB, in addition to executives from OKX moving to Binance, former Kraken CFO, former OV venture capital investment manager, and CMC content creators are also flowing into Binance, further enriching Binance's management team.
Former executives from Binance are also continually moving to other platforms, such as Bitget, forming a multi-directional talent migration network. For example, the current Chief Legal Officer of Bitget, Hon Ng, was the former policy and legal director at Binance, and Chief Business Officer Min Lin was the former global director and development director at Binance, among others.
This flow of elites and knowledge overlaps, driving the industry to mature faster and endowing the crypto sector with stronger adaptability and innovation.
What kind of attraction lies behind this migration wave? What makes these top talents flock to the crypto industry? We hope to explore the characteristics of the crypto industry as an ideal destination for senior management talent, analyze the features of crypto companies that can attract top talent, and examine the industry development trends and corporate attractiveness factors reflected by this cross-border talent migration.
Good birds choose which trees to inhabit
The choices of top talent are like selecting a forest to inhabit. Some chase high salaries, some value freedom, and others hope to align with visions that change the world.
As the saying goes, 'good birds choose their trees,' these 'good birds' flying into the crypto field will not settle down casually.
According to Data.ai data, the top three download numbers for centralized exchange apps globally in October were Binance, OKX, and Bitget, with Binance reaching 4.06 million downloads, and OKX and Bitget at 2.2 million and 1.92 million downloads, respectively. Who is the true 'golden branch and silver leaf' that captivates people?
In this competition for talent, what are the employment views of these major crypto companies?
Binance: Hardcore as a core value
Hardcore: In the official release (How to be an excellent Binance employee?), Binance emphasizes 'hardcore' as a core value.
Adaptability: A key characteristic of Binance employees is the ability to adapt to internal job rotations, cope with uncertainty, and achieve user trust with the highest quality.
Pressure resistance: Due to the fast-paced work environment and significant decision-making impact, Binance employees must work under high-pressure conditions. If you cannot handle stress, or if sustained pressure negatively affects your work performance, then our work environment may not be suitable for you.
OKX: Adhering to basic principles
Team first: Proposing a decentralized management concept to build a global team, where the collaboration model under a decentralized structure is simple, and each department and position has clear work objectives.
Integrity as the foundation: The blockchain industry is very close to money, and only those who can withstand temptation and persist in doing the right thing can obtain final value recognition.
Self-driven: Given that the industry is in its early stages, only those who truly maintain curiosity and optimism about the industry and are willing to understand it deeply can drive themselves further.
Bitget: Dual drives of results orientation and incentive rules
Results-oriented: Bitget emphasizes pragmatism and results orientation, focusing on candidates who can bring substantial results to the company. At the same time, the company advocates for empowerment to ensure that results-oriented employees can receive adequate authorization and rewards.
Honest communication: Management emphasizes open communication and confronting issues directly, encouraging team members to provide direct feedback and solve problems instead of avoiding or escalating issues, to achieve efficient and direct internal communication, driving the company to continue developing in a rapidly changing market.
Future potential: Focus on candidates' adaptability and learning ability, innovation and forward-thinking, global perspective and collaborative ability, risk management and compliance thinking, and team spirit.
In fact, apart from factors such as salary, company culture, and career freedom, the development momentum of the platform and its continuous breakthroughs in technology, products, and markets are rare sources of attraction.
Choosing a platform with strong momentum means having the opportunity to participate in more projects in a shorter time, face more challenges, and gain greater career growth. Bitget, with its rapid expansion and impressive market performance, has become one of the best habitats in the eyes of 'good birds.'
What brought about the 'migration wave'
Not just a job
In any industry or technology development process, the S-curve law is ubiquitous. After reaching the limit of the first curve, the market will exhibit new development directions and initiate the second curve of growth. The phase of innovative technology brewing is a very brief but opportunity-rich window.
From traditional financial giants to tech pioneers, many senior executives are leaving the familiar 'first curve' to engage in the early-stage 'second curve' of innovation in the crypto industry.
This wave of migration is not accidental; it is the best proof of trust and expectations for the crypto industry as a breakthrough path of the second curve.
Reconstruction of financial incentives
Of course, the appeal of the crypto industry will also be reflected in high salary returns, but more so in innovative compensation design and strong value-added potential.
Traditional companies' compensation structures are primarily based on fixed salaries and annual bonuses, with limited growth. In contrast, the crypto industry binds executives' personal interests closely to the long-term development of the company through options, token incentives, and long-term dividends based on platform earnings.
Dragonfly Capital conducted a survey of 49 crypto companies in 2023, most of which strongly considered adopting tokens, with only 14% of companies stating they would never launch tokens; as funding amounts, stages, and scales increase, companies are more likely to plan and launch tokens.
The appeal of corporate culture
The uniqueness of corporate culture is one of the important factors driving the flow of senior management talent. In the crypto industry, the differences in management styles among different platforms are significant, becoming an important hallmark for attracting talent.
In contrast, Binance tends to favor rapid decision-making and high innovation, while Bitget's management style is deeply influenced by the founder's 'decisive and swift' approach, forming a results-oriented corporate culture. Coinbase, on the other hand, places more emphasis on compliance and transparency, attracting managers of different styles.
Market fluctuations and talent redistribution
The volatility of the crypto market and the wave of layoffs have further exacerbated the mobility of industry executives. During market downturns, many companies choose to lay off employees, including a significant number of executives. For example, Binance.US laid off two-thirds of its employees in March due to an SEC lawsuit, Kraken laid off about 15% in October, and ConsenSys announced a 20% layoff due to macroeconomic pressures and increasing legal costs. In this environment, some high-end talents choose to turn to platforms with greater development potential.
High-quality crypto companies often demonstrate stronger risk resilience and adaptability amid market fluctuations, maintaining stability during crises and seizing new opportunities during industry restructuring, which also provides a more ideal working environment and development platform for executives seeking long-term development.
Will you follow this ticket to Web3?
Overall, crypto companies are becoming an ideal destination for senior talent, a trend stemming from their rapidly expanding market scale and innovative technologies, and also reflecting the unique attractiveness of the crypto industry in management openness and incentive mechanisms.
For top talent, joining the crypto industry is not just about 'boarding the Web3 boat'; it requires a discerning eye. This choice must be made after careful consideration. Senior talents must have profound strategic insight when making career decisions to identify companies with long-term strategies and execution capabilities, ensuring that their career development can maximize long-term returns and stability in this emerging field.