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downloadAccording to LinkedIn, the most popular business-related social network, crypto-related job vacancies have seen dramatic growth in 2021.
Crypto job ads, data from LinkedIn
In the US, job openings with Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain and cryptocurrency as their subject matter have increased by 395% since last year.
For comparison, LinkedIn itself has reported that job openings related to the high-tech, high-growth sector have increased by 98%.
“While the majority of job openings were in software and finance, other industries are also seeing an increase in demand for cryptocurrency talent”,
LinkedIn reported in a press release.
Finance and software development are clearly cited among the sectors where demand is highest, but other sectors such as accounting and consulting are also looking for cryptocurrency-savvy talent.
Musk and investment growth behind the boom
Among the reasons that LinkedIn reports as the main drivers of this explosion of job openings, great emphasis is placed on the substantial investments that companies have made in the crypto sector in 2021. Around $30 billion would be the total amount invested by US companies in the crypto ecosystem over the past year.
But LinkedIn analysts also attribute some importance to the great publicity that has been given to the sector by big business personalities, first and foremost Elon Musk, whose tweets have helped to greatly expand the audience of people interested in cryptocurrencies.
The fact that in September a sovereign state, El Salvador, made Bitcoin legal tender, has also helped to increase interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Paying salaries in Bitcoin
But in addition to the number of cryptocurrency-related job ads, more and more companies are allowing their employees to be paid in cryptocurrency.
The latest and perhaps one of the most striking cases is that of the new mayor of New York, Eric Adams, who has explicitly asked for his salary to be paid in Bitcoin. But also the mayor of Miami, one of the most crypto-friendly cities in the US, Francis Suarez had made the same request for himself and all public employees of the city.
According to Bloomberg, American football stars Russell Okung, Odell Beckham Jr. and Aaron Rodgers have said they will be paid, at least in part, in cryptocurrencies. A small part of the €30 million salary of Lionel Messi, hired last summer by Paris Saint-Germain, will be paid in the club’s tokens.
In 2021, an increasing number of employees have asked their companies to be paid in Bitcoin, partly because of the huge rise in inflation in the country.