London fast becoming a hotspot for crypto jobs
London has been confirmed as a world leader in cryptocurrency after a jobs platform revealed the number of global employers currently hunting for staff in the crypto sector.
The US, as expected, takes top spot in the amount of crypto vacancies – currently standing at 3,893 – but the UK is catching up fast with the second-highest number of advertised roles.
There are currently 954 crypto jobs waiting to be filled in the UK. And, while it may be almost three thousand shy of the US, it’s some way ahead of Canada’s 386 current vacancies in third spot.
Most of the UK’s 954 digital asset roles are based in London – with the borough of Greenford in Ealing proving to be a magnate of crypto employment – but other areas outside the capital are offering cryptocurrency work opportunities.
Jobs website Glassdoor discovered Leeds, Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester were also thriving blockchain hubs.
In the US, the lion’s share of crypto jobs were centred around New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with Chicago and Boston also registering high for DeFi employment.
Australia has also risen in the ranks – sitting fourth behind Canada – with a current total of 236 vacancies. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane dominate the skills centres, with places like Perth, Adelaide and Canberra showing growing potential.
The top five job functions where crypto skills are most in-demand in the UK were found to be engineering, project management, information technology, marketing, finance and accounting.
London’s rise as a cryptocurrency hub has been on the cards for years, according some of the industry’s leading employers.
“London has always been a tech and finance capital of the world for commerce, trading, finance, fund-raising and now crypto and digital assets,” said Jeff Hancock, co-founder and CEO of city-based Coinpass – an FCA-registered exchange with 44 employees. This time last year it had a staff of 18.
“Crypto is penetrating every sector of every market in a positive way and leading firms are only going to get hungrier for talent to continue to build innovative blockchain and crypto products.”
Jeff Hancock, co-founder and CEO of city-based Coinpass Coinpass
“At Coinpass, we have a global reach and access to enormous international talent pool, but top quality applicants are pouring out of traditional banks, hedge funds, family offices and also university applying for positions in crypto companies before anywhere else.
“Post funding raising in 2021, our first hire was a top gun HR admin to deal with the influx of talent wanting to join us, I was overwhelmed to say the least.”
Dagmara Aldridge, Chief People & Culture Officer, at Zumo – an Edinburgh-based exchange – said the news about global vacancies was a highly promising sign for the industry.
“Coming against the backdrop of the UK government’s recently-unveiled plans to make the UK into a global crypto asset technology hub – and the rather less friendly crypto proposals from our EU neighbours – this is another promising sign of the UK’s ability to position itself as a location for innovation and enterprise that can bring together some of the world’s top talent,” she said.
“Amidst a series of high-profile departures from tradfi roles to the crypto space, what we’re seeing is a brain drain from the world of old finance to the new – and a shift of talent we believe will create important bridges in the next phase of crypto adoption.
“With the crypto sector hungry for recruits and looking to onboard new people in large numbers, crypto employers will need to set themselves apart, and embrace the flexible options and new ways of working fitting for a new mode of finance.
“In this regard, the UK already has some home strengths: a position of global fintech leadership, robust regulation, and access to capital and the global banking system to name just a few.
“Ultimately, however, crypto doesn’t recognise borders and it will be interesting to consider how the large number of remote roles and remote working arrangements characteristic of crypto – and an area in which the UK has been able to show significant flexibility – plays into the evolution of the crypto employment landscape.”
Ian Wright, founder of Small Business Prices – the company behind the research – said the demand for roles would likely increase.
“Last week the Government announced its plan to make the UK a ‘global crypto-asset technology hub’, with the aim to make stablecoins a more recognised form of payment across the UK,” he said.
“This increase in interest and popularity of cryptocurrency has led to a rise in jobs in a range of sectors such as engineering and journalism.
“With the demand for roles likely to continue to grow following the government’s announcement, we wanted to explore the most advanced countries for jobs in cryptocurrency. Using Glassdoor job listings, we also investigated which cities and industries in these countries were the best for cryptocurrency jobs.
“Our data reveals that the United States is clearly leading the way in regard to opportunities for those looking at a career in cryptocurrency. We also found that countries like the United Kingdom and Canada are not far behind the United States.
“As perhaps expected, our data also shows that the top industry for cryptocurrency jobs is technology.
“We hope that our findings help those looking to break into the cryptocurrency sector, especially when deciding which job sectors have the most cryptocurrency job opportunities available.”