According to companies, 2020 has been a good year for the crypto industry, not only in India where the Supreme court, in March, overturned an RBI ban banning banks and entities it regulates from providing money-related services virtual, but also global. , with growing interest at the retail and institutional levels. According to data shared with ET by employment website Indeed, even in a pandemic, November 2020 saw a 40% increase in cryptocurrency job postings from November last year.
“While most sectors have hit twelve due to the pandemic and the resulting global economic downturn, the crypto industry has seen an unprecedented surge along with innovation, employment and investment opportunities,” said Sathvik Vishwanath, cofounder of cryptocurrency trading platform Unocoin.
Most of the crypto exchanges in India operate with small teams but are now growing aggressively, given the rapid business growth and bullish market sentiment.
CoinSwitch, which has been growing at 175% month on month since launching in India in June, has more than 70 employees. “We expect to add 150 and more people to the team over the next six months to support the growth we’re witnessing,” said chief executive Ashish Singhal.
With the start of ZebPay’s crypto trading, its workforce increased from about 50 employees in March to over 130 as the year closed. “We want to hire for 25 roles in early 2021,” said CEO Rahul Pagidipati. UAE-based crypto exchange Bitex, which entered India in October 2020, will add six members to its 14-member team in the coming weeks, CEO Monark Modi said.
Unocoin plans to expand its team to 50-plus members in the next three months of 35 now.
While there have been concerns about cryptocurrencies, recent developments have helped calm many of those. ET reported on Monday that over a million new investors in India have flocked to the bitcoin market in the past six months, with trading volumes growing plummeting, despite experts warning of sharp price reversals.
“Most people have realized that the crypto industry will scale up and open up opportunities for the workforce quickly. We see talented and smart people reaching out to work with us, ”said Singhal of CoinSwitch.
This all increases wages as well. Demand for professionals skilled in blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exceeds supply, given that they are also hired by technology and consulting firms, solutions / services providers and international investment banks . Shiv Agrawal, managing director of ABC Consultants, said the new domestic market has reopened for this sector and wages are managing a premium of 12-18% on average.
Crypto exchanges are a relatively new employer category, and they hire for roles such as crypto analyst, blockchain developer, financial analyst, among others, ”said Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder of TeamLease Services. “Salaries can start at Rs 8 lakh at the low end and around Rs 50 lakh for a blockchain developer. At the highest levels, it can go above crore, ”he said.