Should I work in the cryptocurrency industry?
May 3, 2024 10:32 PM Subscribe
At a crossroads with my career. Opportunity to move in-house, but in the cryptocurrency industry.
I know the Green’s general consensus is that crypto is a huge scam. I don’t own any because I don’t have the appetite for such risky investments and also think it’s stupid internet money. But, I’m also not very moralistic about the work I do - please no comments lecturing me about this. I’d love to be a philanthropist, and I do volunteer, but I can’t do it full time with elderly family to look after.
The short of it is: I’ve been working in marketing for the last half a decade, in agencies, servicing fintech clients with a few crypto/web 3 companies in my portfolio. Despite the controversies in the last couple of years it seems like these companies are thriving. My crypto clients’ budgets for us increases every year and they’re all growing at an exponential rate. I’m a little tired of working in agencies and being at the beck and call of these clients for a lot less money if I were to do the same in house.
I’m getting headhunters calling me up for interviews with both crypto projects and established companies. Is moving into the industry fully for money a good idea? Am I being short-sighted about it, or is there some kind of net negative I’m not seeing here?
I know the Green’s general consensus is that crypto is a huge scam. I don’t own any because I don’t have the appetite for such risky investments and also think it’s stupid internet money. But, I’m also not very moralistic about the work I do - please no comments lecturing me about this. I’d love to be a philanthropist, and I do volunteer, but I can’t do it full time with elderly family to look after.
The short of it is: I’ve been working in marketing for the last half a decade, in agencies, servicing fintech clients with a few crypto/web 3 companies in my portfolio. Despite the controversies in the last couple of years it seems like these companies are thriving. My crypto clients’ budgets for us increases every year and they’re all growing at an exponential rate. I’m a little tired of working in agencies and being at the beck and call of these clients for a lot less money if I were to do the same in house.
I’m getting headhunters calling me up for interviews with both crypto projects and established companies. Is moving into the industry fully for money a good idea? Am I being short-sighted about it, or is there some kind of net negative I’m not seeing here?
I work on Android and in the last 12 years I have never used an Android phone as my prime/daily driver phone. I have no problems with that. Rarely interviewers have asked about it. Often it doesn't even come up. Now when they ask, depending on their tone I might just politely decline to even entertain that.
I had offers to work on crypto and AI/ML before there were in vogue. I regret not doing that. These are upcoming industries and you will get a skillset in that that will remain relevant for years to come.
When it comes to work, I am learning to look at work as exactly what it is - work. It is related to skill and a pay. There are things I look at - is it breaking any rules, is it actively harming anyone. Because when you stretch, it stretches long. I mean banking industry (and I mean the classic banking industry) is as predatory as it gets, crypto hasn't gotten anywhere close to it. Do we question that? Facebook? Instagram? Netflix? They actively harm people, change their behaviour, cause real health problems like addiction.
I mean we are in a world where alcohol and cigarette are not only sold, these are celebrated, and often as symbol of some kind of "freedom" by the very people who often decry AI/ML, social media work, and crypto industry.
I personally draw a line after basic scrutiny (very basic!) - work-life balance, skill, and salary. (Not necessarily in that order!)
PS. On the plus side, you, as someone with a still functioning moral compass, are better off working in this industry than someone who has none or barely :-)
posted by amar at 11:26 PM on May 3
I had offers to work on crypto and AI/ML before there were in vogue. I regret not doing that. These are upcoming industries and you will get a skillset in that that will remain relevant for years to come.
When it comes to work, I am learning to look at work as exactly what it is - work. It is related to skill and a pay. There are things I look at - is it breaking any rules, is it actively harming anyone. Because when you stretch, it stretches long. I mean banking industry (and I mean the classic banking industry) is as predatory as it gets, crypto hasn't gotten anywhere close to it. Do we question that? Facebook? Instagram? Netflix? They actively harm people, change their behaviour, cause real health problems like addiction.
I mean we are in a world where alcohol and cigarette are not only sold, these are celebrated, and often as symbol of some kind of "freedom" by the very people who often decry AI/ML, social media work, and crypto industry.
I personally draw a line after basic scrutiny (very basic!) - work-life balance, skill, and salary. (Not necessarily in that order!)
PS. On the plus side, you, as someone with a still functioning moral compass, are better off working in this industry than someone who has none or barely :-)
posted by amar at 11:26 PM on May 3
Things to think about:
- have an emergency fund (and don't hold it in crypto). The probability of your seemingly-safe employer (or half the sector) disappearing into thin air literally overnight is very small — but a lot higher than other industries.
- social costs. Do you have, or aspire to have, the smart progressive dinner-party type of friends? People who talk about climate change? The mood music is really moving against crypto, it's not a sexy exciting net-positive any more. You'd start some social encounters on the back foot.
- are you male? Do you date? You could be stuck with the "crypto bro" label, definitely an ick in some circles.
- future employability - probably not a major issue, as others say. Doubt you were ever going to pivot to radical climate advocacy third-sector orgs. I bet everyone who worked in marketing for SBF/Alameda lands on their feet.
posted by Klipspringer at 12:21 AM on May 4 [13 favorites]
- have an emergency fund (and don't hold it in crypto). The probability of your seemingly-safe employer (or half the sector) disappearing into thin air literally overnight is very small — but a lot higher than other industries.
- social costs. Do you have, or aspire to have, the smart progressive dinner-party type of friends? People who talk about climate change? The mood music is really moving against crypto, it's not a sexy exciting net-positive any more. You'd start some social encounters on the back foot.
- are you male? Do you date? You could be stuck with the "crypto bro" label, definitely an ick in some circles.
- future employability - probably not a major issue, as others say. Doubt you were ever going to pivot to radical climate advocacy third-sector orgs. I bet everyone who worked in marketing for SBF/Alameda lands on their feet.
posted by Klipspringer at 12:21 AM on May 4 [13 favorites]
Speaking for myself, I have been in the position of reviewing programmers' CVs for shortlisting, and if I saw that without some kind of balancing comment, I'd be inclined to biff their application. I'm not going to justify why in detail here, but it's a red flag for me.
I have no idea if that is a widespread attitude, but it's my attitude. If you don't care, but you worry about people forming an unfavourable impression when you go for another gig later, then you want to hold out for a lot of money to compensate I guess. Kind of like tobacco industry having to pay a premium to hire.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:23 AM on May 4 [4 favorites]
I have no idea if that is a widespread attitude, but it's my attitude. If you don't care, but you worry about people forming an unfavourable impression when you go for another gig later, then you want to hold out for a lot of money to compensate I guess. Kind of like tobacco industry having to pay a premium to hire.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 12:23 AM on May 4 [4 favorites]
Millions of people work in the fossil fuel sector
If only they didn't.
Anyway, I'm against ignoring the effects of your work. But since you explicitly said you don't care: it sounds like you're already doing work for crypto clients and this move would just be about moving from agency to in house. So this might not be a huge change ethically. In terms of whether the crypto industry could collapse and you'd find yourself out of a job: definitely possible. I'm not sure that marketing is such a specialized field though, where if you've established yourself in one niche you'd have a really hard time working in any other sector. YMMV where you live.
I assume you've looked around at pay rates for working in-house at other, non-crypto companies.
posted by trig at 12:27 AM on May 4 [1 favorite]
If only they didn't.
Anyway, I'm against ignoring the effects of your work. But since you explicitly said you don't care: it sounds like you're already doing work for crypto clients and this move would just be about moving from agency to in house. So this might not be a huge change ethically. In terms of whether the crypto industry could collapse and you'd find yourself out of a job: definitely possible. I'm not sure that marketing is such a specialized field though, where if you've established yourself in one niche you'd have a really hard time working in any other sector. YMMV where you live.
I assume you've looked around at pay rates for working in-house at other, non-crypto companies.
posted by trig at 12:27 AM on May 4 [1 favorite]
I work in hiring folks, and I will say that folks who have crypto on their resume tend to get screened out at resume review. It's is a risk that if you end up in a crypto org it will be hard to transition out, should you ever want to. Something to consider.
posted by Carillon at 12:35 AM on May 4 [9 favorites]
posted by Carillon at 12:35 AM on May 4 [9 favorites]
Do you follow crypto critics like Molly White?
If not, I highly recommend you do, review her archives, and start following her work, along with other technical people who are critical of the crypto industry.
The thing about crypto is, is that there is no there there. There are no underlying cash flows, there are no assets. The whole market is based on the greater fool theory, that somewhere out there there is a greater fool that will buy a crypto asset from you at a better price. That leads to huge, unstable price swings, and ultimately a devastating and probably permanent crash.
Keep in mind that most avenues for the average person -- the greater fools -- to easily invest in crypto have been cut off, for reasons mostly involving criminal prosecutions of the people enabling those transactions. How many crypto ads did you see during last year's Super Bowl, compared to the year before?
I would try to move in-house at a non-crypto fintech company (if you can stomach the culture).
If your only options are crypto companies, I would put a lot in savings as a cushion, if crypto crashes you'll be out of work with a lot of people with similar experience on their resume.
posted by Lycaste at 12:41 AM on May 4 [11 favorites]
If not, I highly recommend you do, review her archives, and start following her work, along with other technical people who are critical of the crypto industry.
The thing about crypto is, is that there is no there there. There are no underlying cash flows, there are no assets. The whole market is based on the greater fool theory, that somewhere out there there is a greater fool that will buy a crypto asset from you at a better price. That leads to huge, unstable price swings, and ultimately a devastating and probably permanent crash.
Keep in mind that most avenues for the average person -- the greater fools -- to easily invest in crypto have been cut off, for reasons mostly involving criminal prosecutions of the people enabling those transactions. How many crypto ads did you see during last year's Super Bowl, compared to the year before?
I would try to move in-house at a non-crypto fintech company (if you can stomach the culture).
If your only options are crypto companies, I would put a lot in savings as a cushion, if crypto crashes you'll be out of work with a lot of people with similar experience on their resume.
posted by Lycaste at 12:41 AM on May 4 [11 favorites]
Am I being short-sighted about it, or is there some kind of net negative I’m not seeing here?
If it genuinely has not occurred to you that these companies are inherently highly unstable even if they don't end up sending you to jail--and it sounds like it hasn't, because you don't mention it at all--then you almost certainly lack the savvy to even make a good guess at which ones are likely to be less risky. Does the idea of having to wait for a bankruptcy judge to authorize the release of your last couple of paychecks while you're freshly unemployed, as the marketing people at FTX almost certainly did, make you feel confident and secure?
People who are happy to openly screw over their customers are also happy to openly screw over their employees. Do you like the idea of your former boss chilling on a warm island in Bali owing you money, like the employees at Three Arrows? (And knowing that no one feels sorry for you, because you're all scammers anyway?)
posted by praemunire at 1:29 AM on May 4 [11 favorites]
If it genuinely has not occurred to you that these companies are inherently highly unstable even if they don't end up sending you to jail--and it sounds like it hasn't, because you don't mention it at all--then you almost certainly lack the savvy to even make a good guess at which ones are likely to be less risky. Does the idea of having to wait for a bankruptcy judge to authorize the release of your last couple of paychecks while you're freshly unemployed, as the marketing people at FTX almost certainly did, make you feel confident and secure?
People who are happy to openly screw over their customers are also happy to openly screw over their employees. Do you like the idea of your former boss chilling on a warm island in Bali owing you money, like the employees at Three Arrows? (And knowing that no one feels sorry for you, because you're all scammers anyway?)
posted by praemunire at 1:29 AM on May 4 [11 favorites]
People on this website will probably lose their minds but they are not necessarily representative of the larger world:
I think you'll find that's backwards, and that outside of the crypto bubble people mostly recognize these things as digital beanie babies.
My crypto clients’ budgets for us increases every year and they’re all growing at an exponential rate.
Nothing growing exponentially is sustainable, and marketing budgets growing at that rate is a leading indicator that the industry behind them is a bubble about to pop. You might be able to spend a year or two making some good money there, but I wouldn't expect any thing more than that to come of this, and wouldn't put it on your CV afterwards. We've all gotta eat, sure, but this isn't going to be work you're proud to be associated with later.
Make sure you get paid in real money.
posted by mhoye at 3:45 AM on May 4 [6 favorites]
I think you'll find that's backwards, and that outside of the crypto bubble people mostly recognize these things as digital beanie babies.
My crypto clients’ budgets for us increases every year and they’re all growing at an exponential rate.
Nothing growing exponentially is sustainable, and marketing budgets growing at that rate is a leading indicator that the industry behind them is a bubble about to pop. You might be able to spend a year or two making some good money there, but I wouldn't expect any thing more than that to come of this, and wouldn't put it on your CV afterwards. We've all gotta eat, sure, but this isn't going to be work you're proud to be associated with later.
Make sure you get paid in real money.
posted by mhoye at 3:45 AM on May 4 [6 favorites]
In my field (law), we have a similar career choice between working for a firm or in-house.
One thing to consider when going in-house is the change in the significance of your position to your employer. At an agency that makes money selling your professional services to companies, you are a revenue center. At a company that sells a product (i.e., "crypto"), while your work may contribute to the success of the business generally, you are a cost center from the perspective of the company.
As labor, your relationship to any employer is inherently insecure under capitalism because to employ you, that employer has to spend money that the it could otherwise keep as revenue or disburse to the owners as profit.
To stay employed, you need to provide enough value to your employer to justify the expense of employing you. What constitutes "enough value" is a moving target, because "enough revenue" is itself a moving target for your employer.
So, with that in mind, the most relatively secure position an employee can occupy with respect to an employer is to be a revenue center, because your employer's fundamental, legally enforceable goal is to generate revenue for the people who own your employer. If you generate revenue, that "offsets" the cost of employing you in some senses. When you work within a cost center at a corporation, you are fundamentally disposable--not your role necessarily, but you, the person specifically filling that role.
Now, finally, add the crypto angle on top. If the crypto "industry" goes belly-up next week, it sounds like you would lose a handful of clients at most--not your ability to purchase food, housing, and medical care. If you are employed by a crypto company that goes belly-up, well . . . the comments above give a good idea of what that has looked like for all the people who have already lived that experience.
It really comes down to risk tolerance. Do you have the economic stability to weather the financial collapse of your employer? Is there a crypto company out there offering you enough actual present-value money to make the jump into an unstable industry? Will having a crypto firm on your CV negatively impact your ability to secure future employment?
In the financial services industry, the people who can answer yes to those questions are not usually the ones working in operational roles like legal or marketing.
posted by ailouros08 at 6:03 AM on May 4 [8 favorites]
One thing to consider when going in-house is the change in the significance of your position to your employer. At an agency that makes money selling your professional services to companies, you are a revenue center. At a company that sells a product (i.e., "crypto"), while your work may contribute to the success of the business generally, you are a cost center from the perspective of the company.
As labor, your relationship to any employer is inherently insecure under capitalism because to employ you, that employer has to spend money that the it could otherwise keep as revenue or disburse to the owners as profit.
To stay employed, you need to provide enough value to your employer to justify the expense of employing you. What constitutes "enough value" is a moving target, because "enough revenue" is itself a moving target for your employer.
So, with that in mind, the most relatively secure position an employee can occupy with respect to an employer is to be a revenue center, because your employer's fundamental, legally enforceable goal is to generate revenue for the people who own your employer. If you generate revenue, that "offsets" the cost of employing you in some senses. When you work within a cost center at a corporation, you are fundamentally disposable--not your role necessarily, but you, the person specifically filling that role.
Now, finally, add the crypto angle on top. If the crypto "industry" goes belly-up next week, it sounds like you would lose a handful of clients at most--not your ability to purchase food, housing, and medical care. If you are employed by a crypto company that goes belly-up, well . . . the comments above give a good idea of what that has looked like for all the people who have already lived that experience.
It really comes down to risk tolerance. Do you have the economic stability to weather the financial collapse of your employer? Is there a crypto company out there offering you enough actual present-value money to make the jump into an unstable industry? Will having a crypto firm on your CV negatively impact your ability to secure future employment?
In the financial services industry, the people who can answer yes to those questions are not usually the ones working in operational roles like legal or marketing.
posted by ailouros08 at 6:03 AM on May 4 [8 favorites]
So crypto is an inherently corrupt extractive industry. The crypt industry is implicated in theft, terrorism, evading sanctions, gambling, and human trafficking, among other things. People who know you are working in it or have worked in it will judge you regardless of how far you feel you are from the crime. That's the risk that you take when you do that kind of work. maybe that doesn't bother you, and you seem to have people to support, so it might be worth it from a social position.
However, crypto is very unstable, even when things are going well, and much more so when things go worse. If you are in the US, regulatory agencies are looking very hard at established companies, and they don't like what they see -- they are handing out substantial fines and sending people to jail. Which, as a marketing person, probably won't happen to you, but... your job could be gone without any warning, and any severance promises should be considered wishful thinking. Outside of the US, things are a little easier, but not all that much; a lot of people are getting fined or going to jail.
Crypto projects are even worse; there is an entire ecosystem of people looking for code errors that will let them steal funds, always assuming your new bosses have not already planned to raid the reserves themselves, so the project would be dead at any time. Again, you are likely to evade jail time, but, if the project fails, you are out of luck. What is your plan when your employer decides to pay some or all of your wage in their meme coin? I suppose you could get in legal trouble if your marketing pitch contains information that turns out to be fabricated. I, personally, would find working in such an environment exhausting, regardless of the pay, but you might be different.
TL;DR: I wouldn't, but people have made considerable money at it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:23 AM on May 4 [4 favorites]
However, crypto is very unstable, even when things are going well, and much more so when things go worse. If you are in the US, regulatory agencies are looking very hard at established companies, and they don't like what they see -- they are handing out substantial fines and sending people to jail. Which, as a marketing person, probably won't happen to you, but... your job could be gone without any warning, and any severance promises should be considered wishful thinking. Outside of the US, things are a little easier, but not all that much; a lot of people are getting fined or going to jail.
Crypto projects are even worse; there is an entire ecosystem of people looking for code errors that will let them steal funds, always assuming your new bosses have not already planned to raid the reserves themselves, so the project would be dead at any time. Again, you are likely to evade jail time, but, if the project fails, you are out of luck. What is your plan when your employer decides to pay some or all of your wage in their meme coin? I suppose you could get in legal trouble if your marketing pitch contains information that turns out to be fabricated. I, personally, would find working in such an environment exhausting, regardless of the pay, but you might be different.
TL;DR: I wouldn't, but people have made considerable money at it.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:23 AM on May 4 [4 favorites]
Missed the edit window, but:
In the financial services industry, the people who can answer [YES to the first two questions and NO to the last] are not usually the ones.....
posted by ailouros08 at 6:25 AM on May 4
In the financial services industry, the people who can answer [YES to the first two questions and NO to the last] are not usually the ones.....
posted by ailouros08 at 6:25 AM on May 4
I cannot speak for marketing as an area. However, I've worked in finance / technology for years, never in crypto.
For me, this question is hard to answer for the crypto industry generally. There's a real difference between companies that are closer to the traditional financial system (ex: Coinbase, Pyth, Chainalysis, Anchorage) and companies that are closer to casinos, meme coins, offshore, etc.
The first category is pretty typical to see on a resume of even people who aren't 'true believers'. Many of those companies are joint ventures with the traditional finance system, and if you're an crypto exchange, or an asset custodian, or a trading firm it makes sense that you hire people with experience in those areas. It's still a very speculative / risky play, and you should be compensated appropriately, but at least for me it's not any kind of red flag. The latter set of companies is, and you could not pay me to work there.
As shorthand - if you can describe the company as "an X, for crypto" AND it has some type of interactions with US regulatory agencies beyond getting sued all the time, that's better than something entirely in the crypto space.
posted by true at 6:32 AM on May 4 [5 favorites]
For me, this question is hard to answer for the crypto industry generally. There's a real difference between companies that are closer to the traditional financial system (ex: Coinbase, Pyth, Chainalysis, Anchorage) and companies that are closer to casinos, meme coins, offshore, etc.
The first category is pretty typical to see on a resume of even people who aren't 'true believers'. Many of those companies are joint ventures with the traditional finance system, and if you're an crypto exchange, or an asset custodian, or a trading firm it makes sense that you hire people with experience in those areas. It's still a very speculative / risky play, and you should be compensated appropriately, but at least for me it's not any kind of red flag. The latter set of companies is, and you could not pay me to work there.
As shorthand - if you can describe the company as "an X, for crypto" AND it has some type of interactions with US regulatory agencies beyond getting sued all the time, that's better than something entirely in the crypto space.
posted by true at 6:32 AM on May 4 [5 favorites]
There are plenty of interesting things in the crypto space, and plenty of junk things. The vast majority of the crypto world is not a scam (at least in any novel or explicitly immoral way, all tech VC is pretty much a ponzi scheme anyway).
It may be of questionable value or utility, but there is no real net negative unless you specifically work for like a casino or loan shark.
So crypto is an inherently corrupt extractive industry. The crypt industry is implicated in theft, terrorism, evading sanctions, gambling, and human trafficking, among other things.
Wait till you hear about this thing called capitalism...
posted by so fucking future at 7:36 AM on May 4 [1 favorite]
It may be of questionable value or utility, but there is no real net negative unless you specifically work for like a casino or loan shark.
So crypto is an inherently corrupt extractive industry. The crypt industry is implicated in theft, terrorism, evading sanctions, gambling, and human trafficking, among other things.
Wait till you hear about this thing called capitalism...
posted by so fucking future at 7:36 AM on May 4 [1 favorite]
do you want to tell your kids, or your friends kids, that you worked for an industry that proudly and deliberately burned fossil fuels (or energy that could have been used for other things?) at an astonishing and intentionally increasing rate?
furthermore, this industry had NO actual output, like travel, or manufacture of physical goods,or keeping beople warm or cool, but the industry itself was concocted from whole cloth, to solely solve increasingly hard mathematical problems that it set itself, to push money around to fleece greater fools.
posted by lalochezia at 8:12 AM on May 4 [3 favorites]
furthermore, this industry had NO actual output, like travel, or manufacture of physical goods,or keeping beople warm or cool, but the industry itself was concocted from whole cloth, to solely solve increasingly hard mathematical problems that it set itself, to push money around to fleece greater fools.
posted by lalochezia at 8:12 AM on May 4 [3 favorites]
If your moral compass matters to you, I would at least focus on proof of stake rather than proof of work crypto. Bitcoin exchanges power for ... something, Ethereum (as an example) doesn't - power is spent, but it's not spent doing makework for the sake of proving your involvement in the system. If I were going to pick a company to work for I would at least ask myself if my work is not working actively against the greater good.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:39 AM on May 4 [2 favorites]
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:39 AM on May 4 [2 favorites]
Even if you are not moralistic about what work you're doing (which I won't judge), I wouldn't work for crypto in particular, even for self-interested reasons.
As others have mentioned, crypto produces no value and the industry relies on attracting more and more people – it's fundamentally something of a pyramid scheme. That's why they're so desperate for marketing. The growth is founded on persuading people to buy useless things from other people and taking a cut, and on buying and selling useless things until no one is willing to buy them anymore and hoping you're not left holding the bag. Not to mention that the valuation practices of crypto assets are bonkers and the numbers have little to do with the industry's and companies' fundamentals. That's not sustainable.
Those in the know generally agree that the days of crypto industries making tons of money are passing. There might be more boom cycles in future. But there's always a strong risk that your company will go bust.
Crypto is also a hotbed of poor management practices and prone to fraud. You would be vulnerable to your reputation being tainted by association with the industry as a whole and any company you work for in particular.
I'd also just think about your day to day life. When you have a conversation about work with someone, do you want them to think "oh that scam thing"? And consider whether you would find it draining to be part of a work culture that attracts the people that crypto does. If looking at a resume for someone who worked at a crypto company, I'd wonder whether that person had any business sense, whether they don't read the news, and strongly suspect we wouldn't get along.
If you already have agency work under your belt, I'd imagine you have other in house options available to you, including those outside of the industries your agency currently services. I'd take a look around and see what else is available to you.
posted by lookoutbelow at 9:43 AM on May 4 [4 favorites]
As others have mentioned, crypto produces no value and the industry relies on attracting more and more people – it's fundamentally something of a pyramid scheme. That's why they're so desperate for marketing. The growth is founded on persuading people to buy useless things from other people and taking a cut, and on buying and selling useless things until no one is willing to buy them anymore and hoping you're not left holding the bag. Not to mention that the valuation practices of crypto assets are bonkers and the numbers have little to do with the industry's and companies' fundamentals. That's not sustainable.
Those in the know generally agree that the days of crypto industries making tons of money are passing. There might be more boom cycles in future. But there's always a strong risk that your company will go bust.
Crypto is also a hotbed of poor management practices and prone to fraud. You would be vulnerable to your reputation being tainted by association with the industry as a whole and any company you work for in particular.
I'd also just think about your day to day life. When you have a conversation about work with someone, do you want them to think "oh that scam thing"? And consider whether you would find it draining to be part of a work culture that attracts the people that crypto does. If looking at a resume for someone who worked at a crypto company, I'd wonder whether that person had any business sense, whether they don't read the news, and strongly suspect we wouldn't get along.
If you already have agency work under your belt, I'd imagine you have other in house options available to you, including those outside of the industries your agency currently services. I'd take a look around and see what else is available to you.
posted by lookoutbelow at 9:43 AM on May 4 [4 favorites]
I work in marketing. I would be cautious about filling your portfolio with only crypto from here forward, especially if you’re actually at the 5 year mark in your career. You probably want to look to round out your experience with something that’s closer to a traditional sector to show that kind of mature funnel management.
If you also have fintech clients, and you’ve got agency expertise, why are you focused on crypto? Is it just because those are the recruiting calls you’re getting? Or is it the money?
Maybe it’s worth actually doing a search to see what’s out there more broadly.
posted by warriorqueen at 10:08 AM on May 4 [3 favorites]
If you also have fintech clients, and you’ve got agency expertise, why are you focused on crypto? Is it just because those are the recruiting calls you’re getting? Or is it the money?
Maybe it’s worth actually doing a search to see what’s out there more broadly.
posted by warriorqueen at 10:08 AM on May 4 [3 favorites]
If you’re in marketing you are in the financial sector and can easily move to a more stable, traditional sector if not even move sectors completely. Crypto might be misunderstood here. Are we talking like Bitcoin/NFT or the underlying technologies that are being more widely accepted as useful to create secure transactions. I am not well versed but do know they go out of their way to not use industry buzz words.
Similarly, there’s scam AI that’s SaaS over models and calls itself GenAI and there’s 3D vision systems that can sort items in a conveyer (think fruits) detect if they’re fresh and do so at amazing speed and accuracy.
Unless you’re involved in an outright scam I’d be more concerned about becoming too niche. I don’t know any social groups who’ve ostracized simply on career choices. I do know those that roll their eyes at AI “experts” who took some Salesforce AI exam sitting next to someone who dedicated their academic career in research.
I’d be more careful about the former.
posted by geoff. at 11:57 AM on May 4
Similarly, there’s scam AI that’s SaaS over models and calls itself GenAI and there’s 3D vision systems that can sort items in a conveyer (think fruits) detect if they’re fresh and do so at amazing speed and accuracy.
Unless you’re involved in an outright scam I’d be more concerned about becoming too niche. I don’t know any social groups who’ve ostracized simply on career choices. I do know those that roll their eyes at AI “experts” who took some Salesforce AI exam sitting next to someone who dedicated their academic career in research.
I’d be more careful about the former.
posted by geoff. at 11:57 AM on May 4
I work in tech at the biggest company you have ever heard of. I do interviews. When I have an interview with a crypto person, they simply are not going to get hired.
posted by bowbeacon at 12:03 PM on May 4 [2 favorites]
posted by bowbeacon at 12:03 PM on May 4 [2 favorites]
I work in crypto.
Crypto is an industry of last resort and it’s full of marginalised folks and we have as much right, and responsibility, to survive as anyone else. Those who critique the industry rarely have any answer for us except for a wan hope that the entire global economic system changes, which, yeah, me too, but we still need to pay bills between now and then.
There are scam and unstable and poorly run companies in crypto, but if this is a longtime client with a growing budget then you should be well positioned to make the leap. You can also sign on as a sole trader or contractor if you prefer not to have them as an employer on your employment history.
I am well versed in this field and am glad to talk in depth if useful—feel free to me mail me or get the mods to post a throwaway email address here.
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 2:06 PM on May 4 [1 favorite]
Crypto is an industry of last resort and it’s full of marginalised folks and we have as much right, and responsibility, to survive as anyone else. Those who critique the industry rarely have any answer for us except for a wan hope that the entire global economic system changes, which, yeah, me too, but we still need to pay bills between now and then.
There are scam and unstable and poorly run companies in crypto, but if this is a longtime client with a growing budget then you should be well positioned to make the leap. You can also sign on as a sole trader or contractor if you prefer not to have them as an employer on your employment history.
I am well versed in this field and am glad to talk in depth if useful—feel free to me mail me or get the mods to post a throwaway email address here.
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 2:06 PM on May 4 [1 favorite]
Speaking as someone who has worked at bleeding-edge companies the biggest issue is that every time your badge doesn't work on the first attempt you'll wonder if the company is still in business. The crypto market is growing extremely rapidly and if the history of business has shown anything there are going to be a few huge winners, a smaller number of survivors, and a enormous number of losers. Even if you're at a larger company where crypto is just a division be ready for sudden job loss.
As for morals, I've written the government-compliant wiretapping code for both cell networks and straight VOIP. Twice. If taking part in the crypto gold rush is the worst moral compromise you make in this world you'll be fine.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:24 PM on May 4 [2 favorites]
As for morals, I've written the government-compliant wiretapping code for both cell networks and straight VOIP. Twice. If taking part in the crypto gold rush is the worst moral compromise you make in this world you'll be fine.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:24 PM on May 4 [2 favorites]
I'm in tech (not crypto), and I wouldn't personally give a shit if you worked at a crypto company as long as you're obviously not a "cryptobro".
...however, be VERY careful what company you work for, because many of them are essentially just a house of cards built to skim money from idiot VCs, and they could collapse at any time.
Work for someone that will pay you in real money, not crypto.
Work for someone that spends an unbelievable amount of time on security -- like, their security team should be one of the largest in the org. If they're not spending a crapton on security, they're gonna collapse (or they're actually planning to "collapse" after a "hack").
Work for someone that has a clear plan that makes sense to you.
Work for someone that doesn't trust Tether.
Work for someone that knows what their regulatory stance is.
Work for someone that has a physical location you can actually visit, where real work is done.
Work for someone that has a records retention policy.
posted by aramaic at 4:24 PM on May 4 [6 favorites]
...however, be VERY careful what company you work for, because many of them are essentially just a house of cards built to skim money from idiot VCs, and they could collapse at any time.
Work for someone that will pay you in real money, not crypto.
Work for someone that spends an unbelievable amount of time on security -- like, their security team should be one of the largest in the org. If they're not spending a crapton on security, they're gonna collapse (or they're actually planning to "collapse" after a "hack").
Work for someone that has a clear plan that makes sense to you.
Work for someone that doesn't trust Tether.
Work for someone that knows what their regulatory stance is.
Work for someone that has a physical location you can actually visit, where real work is done.
Work for someone that has a records retention policy.
posted by aramaic at 4:24 PM on May 4 [6 favorites]
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Interview around, be judicious about who you sign up with, and I’d say do it. You can always quit later. (Or uncover something crazy, become a whistleblower, and be set for life.)
posted by whitewall at 11:08 PM on May 3 [4 favorites]