Let’s Celebrate International Crypto Workers’ Day!

Sead Fadilpašić
Last updated: | 5 min read

International Workers’ Day, often synonymous with Labour Day, is here – the annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers, with origins in the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. But what happens in an industry that never sleeps?

Source: iStock/AleksandarNakic

Crypto is the new kid on the block promising a brighter future, and experts on it are few and far between, so it’s only logical that jobs in the industry bring competitive salaries. But these jobs are far from traditional, and although you’ve heard the names of these roles outside of crypto, they might have a completely different meaning here.

Miner

Just for the sake of comparison, visualize a traditional miner next to a crypto miner. The two couldn’t be further apart – one is a manual worker who spends his days underground in often life-threatening situations, and the other has an expensive computer, a large electricity bill and a lot of patience.

But we already know that crypto miners have nothing to do with traditional ones. Comparing the two in any terms would be talking about apples and oranges – they have nothing in common. They do, however, have an extremely important role in the cryptoverse – without them, it would be complicated for the upcoming jobs to exist.

Trader

Trading crypto is perhaps the most popular among these jobs, given that it’s not usually done in a workplace environment. Most traders are left to their own devices, although there are those that choose to trade with friends or other groups of people, making up a self-regulated (and often arguably decentralized) workplace.

All you need is basic knowledge, access to at least one crypto exchange platform, and money. Sadly, with the volatility of prices and lack of regulation, crypto trading and/or investing is too often gambling – so don’t invest more than you are willing to lose.

Developer

Although many projects for startups are done on the Ethereum blockchain, this is only a temporary solution for most, at least until their initial coin offering (ICO) is done. After that, they need people to build the blockchain upon which their token – the one from their ICO – will be traded. This is where developers come in.

This is a highly competitive field, as there are not many people who have the knowledge and experience to do this job. Some developers claim they make more than USD 100 hourly – except those hours are incredibly difficult and they can’t exactly find all answers to their bugs and errors online.

Journalist

Ah, the dream (we may be biased). Possibly the best job to have if you like spectating and talking to people about crypto, you still need a variety of skills from several different walks of life. For example, you need to be good at reporting – who knew – and also follow all the news, no matter how technical or boring, but also be able to explain them in terms that are less technical and boring.

However, being a crypto journalist is not just about crypto – there are the implications on different industries, economies and political stances, and all these must be taken into consideration when reporting. But it is definitely not boring!

Analyst

If analyzing a traditional stock market seems boring to you, imagine what it’s like with the new, not always defined and mostly unregulated space of crypto. It’s obviously not boring to everyone, or nobody would be doing it – but analysts are extremely sought after, by individual traders, investors, crypto startups, and the occasional miner.

Their word is often law – because they often know better than we do what each squiggly line on a graph represents. Although distinctly more difficult than its traditional counterpart, it is also respected by many. As long as there is crypto, there will be a need for analysts.

Lawyer

“Regulations” is a word often spoken that makes many nervous. However, there need to be some ground rules on how crypto fits in with society, regardless of political regime, but that’s mostly done by those in positions of power. Until rules come to pass, lawyers are there to help businesses and startups dealing with crypto not commit fraud, and generally follow the rules of running a business in the country they’re based in.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain regulation is still a very niche area so there are not many lawyers who have the expertise and experience in this field, as we previously reported. Still, the demand can only grow.

Project Manager

Startups in crypto are not always drastically different from those not related to crypto. Project managers are also sought after, especially those with experience, for example to manage the entire campaign from beginning to end and ensure the company delivers the suite of agreed upon services to their client, whatever that may be. These services can differ wildly, but one thing is always certain – experience in working with crypto/blockchain is a must.

Job postings seem to agree that a project manager in crypto is very similar to its more traditional counterpart, except for that knowledge – this job comes perhaps closest to what we usually envision when we mention its name.

Customer Support

Yes, there is customer support in crypto, and it could be argued that, with increased adoption, the demand for this position will only increase. This job is also quite similar to what we already know: the employee’s job is to answer phone calls, provide solutions to problems and generally be as nice as possible in the face of potential tense situations.

You mostly just need crypto-related knowledge, a phone, internet connection, a headset and patience. Many companies offer the possibility of working from home. Usually, call center experience is a must – but knowledge of the topic at hand will always prevail.

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There are many other possible jobs in the crypto space and even more new opportunities will arise as the industry is still very young.

Many, if not all, of the existing crypto jobs can be done from home. What must be taken into consideration, however, is that they are far from simple – although finding help on the internet is getting easier every day, many aspects, especially technical ones, are still far from being general knowledge. Work hours are also quite flexible most of the time – but this means being in the industry 24/7.

With its explosive growth and inching towards mass adoption, it can swallow up your life – but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Therefore, let’s celebrate International Crypto Workers’ Day! And let’s do it every single day.