How to Blockchain
How does one Blockchain?
“Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network.”
Since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009, the economic and social impact of cryptocurrency has been overt at times, but in many ways has also had a subtle impact. Thirteen years later, Crypto has established itself as a viable currency and form of investment, and the economic impact is evident in a number of areas in national and global communities.
It has also changed the hiring landscape within the realm of technology. The early Internet was mostly composed of web pages joined by hyperlinks, without the additional visuals, controls and forms that we see when we log on today – referred to by many as the “read-only” web.
Web 2.0 describes the current state of the internet, which has more user-generated content and usability for end-users compared to its older sister. But we have now entered the age of Web3 – the third iteration of the internet that is not quite in full swing yet, but is bringing with it the likes of digital assets, artificial intelligence, the metaverse, NFTs, and much more.
With such uncharted waters, there is a lot of room for people to establish the technology that will define this space. As such, institutional financial giants such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have opened up new Crypto departments. New offices and trading desks require staff – weirdly enough.
What is a Blockchain Engineer?
Quite simply, a developer responsible for developing and optimizing blockchain protocols, crafting the architecture of blockchain systems, and developing smart contracts & web apps using blockchain technology is commonly called a blockchain developer.
There are two types of blockchain developers:
- Core Blockchain Engineers: mostly responsible for developing the architecture of a blockchain system, how its protocols should be designed, the design of consensus protocol and other high-level decisions and development related to blockchain technology.
- Blockchain Software Developers: use the architecture and protocols designed by Core Blockchain developers to build decentralized applications that run on blockchain technology.
So Core means designing, architecting, and securing blockchain systems and Software Devs build decentralized applications or Dapps using blockchain technology.
What Technical Skills are Required?
- Blockchain Architecture: As a developer, you should have an excellent understanding of blockchain, its workings and its architecture. Concepts like cryptographic hash functions, consensus, and distributed ledger technology should be at the tip of your fingers. The best way to get yourself familiarised with blockchain technology is to go through the bitcoin blockchain whitepaper (can be a tedious task, but worth it).
- Data Structures: Blockchain uses a plethora of data structures in conjunction with advanced cryptography to build a secure and immutable system. Blockchain developers are constantly playing around and tweaking existing data structures like merkle trees, petrecia trees (to give a few examples) to meet their personal network requirements.
- Cryptography: As mentioned above, a lot of cryptographic methods like hash functions eg SHA256 and KECCAK256 are used in blockchain aside from asynchronous cryptography for generating digital signatures. Without understanding how these work, it is impossible to become a blockchain developer.
- Smart Contract Development: Since Ethereum has come along, every blockchain tries to incorporate smart contract functionality into its system. If you are trying to get into the space, you should definitely learn about smart contract development. This generally entails learning network-specific languages like Solidity, Viper, and Chaincode to give a few examples.
- Web-Development: This is a core aspect of being a blockchain developer. To begin with, you can expect a majority of your work to be basic designing of decentralized applications. This means you must know the basics of both front-end and back-end development which includes things like creating interactive graphical user interfaces for Dapps, API handling, and request handling to give a few examples.
Who’s hiring Blockchain Developers?
If you think you have what it takes to become a blockchain developer, then it’s a pretty golden time for you as opportunities are overflowing. For every five blockchain developer-related jobs in the industry, there is only one eligible blockchain developer available. Many fortune 500 companies are on the hunt for eligible blockchain developers and are willing to pay handsomely for such talent. Not to mention the market is saturated with well-backed start-ups and established Unicorns.
We currently have a plethora of Blockchain Development roles, some paying up to £500k on the base – that’s a lot of cheddar.
Written by Karolis Kundrotas
📅 This Week in Crypto 📅
European digital bank Revolut has been granted authorization by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC) allowing it to offer crypto services across the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA includes the 27 countries that are in the European Union, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Revolut is currently valued at $33 billion.
Messari, a crypto-focused data analytics business, plans to raise fresh financing. The startup is in the process of raising capital at a valuation of $300 million and has pitched potential investors, according to two people familiar with the matter. One of those sources said the company is looking to raise $35 million.
Liquidity platform Paradigm has partnered with crypto exchange FTX to launch spread trading, allowing users to take advantage of pricing dislocations with “cash-and-carry” plays. Spread trades involve buying one security and selling another related security — such as a futures contract — to produce an overall net trade with a positive value called the spread.