@ AVB

(original version: https://allesvoorbitcoin.substack.com/p/bitcoin-jobs-are-a-sham )\ The dream

For many people who learned to use, work with, understand and hold bitcoin, one goal consistently stands out: the dream to one day work in a bitcoin job. In my entourage, this was for a long time the main thing most tried to achieve.

The prospect of such job is to work in the bitcoin industry and it seems like a lofty goal: it combines innovation, technology and the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded individuals while earning bitcoin. It’s also “cool”.

It’s an industry (yes, it’s an industry now) that thrives on the promise of that ultimate payout: hard money, bitcoin. Who wouldn’t want that? Certainly if you word in a fiat job right now.

At the same time, this longing comes with certain expectations. People assume a bitcoin-related job will be exciting, rewarding, efficient, well-funded and will happen in a professional environment - that often is lacking in fiat jobs.

I hate to break it to you, fellow bitcoiners, but the oasis of bitcoin jobs you’re crawling toward through the scorching fiat desert is mostly a mirage. Once you arrive at what seems like a place of plenty, you’ll find just a few orange-colored rocks and maybe a lone palm tree with a single, withered coconut barely hanging on.

The main reason? The reality of bitcoin jobs isn’t as different from fiat jobs as you might expect—at least, not yet.

After all, bitcoiners should be “better” people, right? Unlike those fiat wage slaves who don’t realize that being paid in dirty fiat slowly makes them poorer, we like to think we’re ahead of the curve. We feel more vindicated, more enlightened—bitcoiners are the better, more evolved kind. Or so we tell ourselves.

The realization of how hard money actually shapes society has not yet fully matured. We’re all still in the discovery phase. Even with die hard bitcoiners and their respective job industry aren’t there yet. During this discovery phase, it’s important to not let ourselves be blinded by the sun in the desert. We need not to be blinded by the promises and the ideology to let ourselves be taken advantage of by fiat-minded people, even if they own a bitcoin company.

Hard money is the way forward. Bitcoin is the way forward. Most people and certainly their jobs and companies are lagging behind that reality.

Such a job is not (yet) going to bring you Valhalla (or its equivalent) in the form of a well-paid bitcoin job.

Let’s walk over the reasons as to why that is.

The Fiat (Brain) Drain We don’t need to spend much time summarizing how soul-crushing a fiat job can be. Countless books, blogs, and social media rants already detail how monotonous, pointless, and draining traditional employment is. And for those of you that need a crash course on that: The 1999 movie Office Space remains a masterpiece in this regard. By now, we’ve all worked for a version of “Bill Lumbergh” at one point or another.

Bill at INITECH Bill Lumbergh at Initech (Office Space) From a bitcoiner’s perspective, a fiat job is merely a temporary solution to the problem of liquidity for consumer tokens — tokens printed for free by an entity like a state system, which itself is a tax, deb-and-war engine. At the same time, there’s a good chance to get people out of their fiat jobs, purely on this promise, as I wrote in “the fiat brain drain“.

If you operate within that fiat world, you’re bound to these forces. On top of that, your purchasing power is continually siphoned away through inflation, and you get taxed out of any long-term wealth buildup. On the other hand, that same fiat system makes you dependent on their return in social safety and being regarded as “OK”.

Most bitcoiners want a bitcoin job, exactly to escape this pit of misery. To leave this Linkedin-vortex of fake, the loser mentality, its hierarchical nonsense and bureaucratic drudgery that will soon be rendered obsolete by automation and AI, compounding with the ongoing brain drain at the top of the innovation pyramid.

That’s a long-winded way of saying: a fiat job is financial quicksand. And you’re knee-deep in it.

The solution? “bitcoin jobs”

If a bitcoin job were truly the answer, the solution would be simple: launch a bitcoin company, hire bitcoiners willing to work for bitcoin and start building products and services that function in both the fiat and bitcoin worlds—emphasizing the transition to better money: bitcoin.

But without capital, you’re stuck, whether in fiat or bitcoin.

The framework may shift slightly, but the fundamental problem remains. Those with capital can secure real bitcoin jobs or start real bitcoin companies, just as those with financial backing in the fiat world can choose work, they enjoy without worrying about pay or job-hunting struggles.

That’s not to say someone with limited funds and no capital can’t start such a company, but they’ll quickly run into funding issues. bitcoin jobs require payment in bitcoin but also fiat funds to pay for real life goods at most suppliers and services. Unless you build your own office (if you need one anyway) you’ll be paying in fiat to rent some office space (pun intended).

If you lack capital (in bitcoin), you’ll hit a wall sooner rather than later. So, in comes “other capital” to save you.

Relying on larger entities, whether venture capital firms or industry-supporting companies, to cover expenses also comes at the cost of independence; if they even provide funding at all.

While there's no shortage of hype and excitement around bitcoin projects, actual funding for many of these ventures is speculative at best. When you want to help these projects out for free, there’s also no shortage of open arms, welcoming the free hours of work for a project you’re passionate about.

Numerous startups in the crypto space operate on shoestring budgets, relying on ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) or venture capital more interested in hype than substance. This creates a precarious job environment where projects can disappear as quickly as they emerge, leaving employees stranded.

Sustainability, or lack thereof, is another major concern. Bitcoin jobs that promise longevity often come with a caveat: they're here today, but there's no guarantee they’ll last until next month. The market’s volatility means projects can lose funding or pivot dramatically within months of no technical challenges or a dry up for demand pops up. Finding a position with a horizon beyond a few months in the future is rare, making long-term career planning in this sector a gamble. Most of these jobs are not even bitcoin jobs, but are presented that way. They’re mostly a sham!1

Pay up

Then there's the pay.

Even if you secure a position, and it’s a bit more long-term, then the promise of "decent, livable pay" is often unfulfilled. While some roles offer competitive salaries, many pay in bitcoin, which fluctuates of course (by the way, that’s a good thing, volatility is our friend). The trustworthiness of some of these bitcoin jobs, mostly at smaller startups can get even worse, where you as an employee are at risk to not receive promised payments at all due to funding issues.

The bitcoin job market presents a paradox: it's full of opportunities, yet few meet the criteria for being well-funded, sustainable, and offering reliable compensation and protection. For those looking to build a career in this space, caution is key do your due diligence, don’t trust verify on potential employers and diversify your own skills can help mitigate the risks somewhat.

Until the industry matures and offers greater stability and accountability, the allure of bitcoin jobs may remain problematic.

The harsh reality is, that the carrot of a bitcoin job, that’s been dangling in front of most bitcoiners’ eyes for a long time, is tempting, but mostly just that: an unreachable goal, not because you can’t get that job, but more because that job was a mirage on itself. The dream that most of us have is to leave the rat-race with its unfulfilling fiat jobs, to work in a better way, a job that pays in hard money and builds a better world.

I’m afraid that dream is just that: a dream. These jobs are mostly reserved for the inner-circle of some venture capitalist’s entourage or revolve around making use (or misuse) of bitcoiner’s ideology and goals in life.

But there’s hope Many people want to be paid in bitcoin, but until we transition to a bitcoin standard, they still need to cover expenses in a fiat-dominated world.

Finding a good fiat job is exhausting. And once you’ve been fully orange-pilled, earning fiat starts to feel like an even bigger scam—arguably worse than the Value for Value model. In the end, you’ll either work for peanuts or turn into a peanut yourself — a very salty one at that.

Definition

Let’s clarify what a bitcoin job" actually is, since the term often gets misused for anything remotely fintech or crypto-related anyway.

A bitcoin job involves real, tangible work — simply holding a title isn’t enough. It provides income paid directly in bitcoin, not in stocks, tokens (or other cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin). It requires a significant commitment of time, making it distinct from minor side gigs like washing a neighbor’s car — unless that gig somehow becomes your primary source of income.

Owning a company doesn’t count as a job on its own; you must be actively working in it (for example as a real hands-on developer or COO/CEO).

The role must be tied to a legitimate organization — a company or corporation — not just a loosely organized WhatsApp group pretending to be a business. It should be official, meaning it’s on the books, taxable where applicable, and, in some cases (such as in the EU), may even come with social benefits and retirement benefit buildup.

The focus must remain bitcoin only. Companies dealing exclusively in altcoins, memecoins, hype-cycles and the likes don’t qualify. Multi-cryptocurrency businesses, like exchanges or DeFi platforms, are more fintech than pure bitcoin. For example, a job at a bitcoin-only hardware company fits the definition, whereas a position at a Solana based trading platform does not.

About that real work: A disorganized WhatsApp group isn’t a company but a hobby project.

If a job doesn’t meet these criteria above, it’s unlikely to be a true bitcoin job. Looking at listings on platforms like Bitvocation2 (link) or the job sections of bitcoin/crypto companies, many roles appear to be standard fiat economy positions but within a bitcoin (or altcoins) focused company. (by the way, the Bitvocation team runs an excellent service that has a direct reach from open vacancies towards possible employees,… I love it).

For example, an HR role at a bitcoin company is fundamentally the same as one at a traditional fiat company (except for the occasional ordering of extra black hoodies for employees). Choosing to be paid in bitcoin may qualify it as a “bitcoin job,” but the role itself would exist in any industry. These positions could be considered bitcoin jobs since they contribute to our ecosystem while being financially tied to it.

From personal experience and observations, smaller bitcoin startups face significant challenges in securing funding. What is puzzling about this, that all this difficult environment to get a projects/startups funded happens, despite bitcoin being a trillion-dollar asset and major holders like Strategy accumulating nearly 500,000 BTC.

Top bitcoin company holdings:

BlackRock IBIT: 587,050 BTC Strategy (MSTR): 478,740 BTC Coinbase (COIN): 1,051,650 BTC Binance: 765,072 BTC Bitfinex: 359,687 BTC

Beyond funding, these startups also struggle to attract talent for a longer period of time. Traditional finance, fintech and even the broader cryptocurrency industry usually offer higher salaries and more perceived prestige (not in the bitcoin space, but outside) along with the perks of having a half fiat / “crypto” job.

Employees who choose to work in bitcoin often do so for ideological reasons, willingly giving up the stability and structure of traditional industries. This is both a strength and a risk. While bitcoin startups operate in a highly innovative space, they also face volatility and uncertainty.

The survival rate of bitcoin startups is low—around 10% make it past three years (according to Seedtable data). Most crypto-related job openings come from DeFi projects and general crypto firms, while jobs focused solely on bitcoin are typically backed by venture capital.

For instance: Fedi (federated lightning “all-in one freedom tool”) is employing between 27 and 50 people according to publicly available data. It’s backed by ‘Ego Death Capital’.

Other key VC firms in the bitcoin space include:

Axiom BTC Bitcoin Opportunity Fund Bitcoiner Ventures Epoch VC Lightning Ventures Ten31 Timechain VC

These firms play a crucial role in sustaining bitcoin-only businesses, as traditional funding routes remain scarce. Once inside these companies, there’s often a push for maximum efficiency and lean operations — while working with hard money. This paradox is frequently overlooked. Hard money means a long term time horizon. While bitcoin jobs often offer the polar opposite.

Bitcoin jobs are highly competitive on a global scale as well. Much like remote fiat jobs, most bitcoin-related roles can be done from anywhere in the world, meaning candidates are competing with a vast international talent pool. This makes securing a position even more challenging (especially for Europeans) in an industry that operates in a fast-changing and often challenging technological landscape from a marketing and cost/benefits perspective.

For example, a company developing a bitcoin PoS (point-of-sale) system for cash registers and checkout online, needs traction to sell its product and grow its user base but needs fiat funds to acquire material and develop point of sale devices and software.

This requires sales people, developers and a substantial portion of marketing efforts. That’s something that cannot be sustained solely by grassroots initiatives on bitcoin alone, and can’t be achieved by a single developer working out of a small studio on his own. To scale, these companies often rely on seed funding, venture capital or grants from larger bitcoin-focused firms. Even then, working for such companies, even if you’re really motivated often doesn’t pay the (fiat) bills.

The same applies to teams building something on Lightning Network, projects developing on Liquid or companies attempting to establish bitcoin-native lending platforms and the likes. If (like me) you want to work for them, be prepared to do it either for free, off the books or for peanuts… or become a peanut yourself.

The realities of bitcoin Jobs

Based on my experience working in bitcoin-related roles—particularly within the EU (where taxation and regulations are more rigid and social security systems are extensive) several common challenges emerged:

High intensity: The work often demands significant time and effort due to the passion-driven nature of the industry. This is good, a fiat job is often draining, while a bitcoin job is more energetic and intense in nature. We’re building something good. It’s also good to remember that this energy is often used to make you do the work, without the reward.

Lower pay: At least in my experience; salaries tend to be lower compared to traditional tech or finance roles, and I’ve even seen bickering over the price like it was a flee market.

Funding struggles: Many bitcoin startups face ongoing financial uncertainty, troubles finding investors, or getting investors that cancel their deals or disappear entirely.

Constant involvement: There’s little room to “clock out” at 5 PM; engagement is often expected beyond regular hours (it comes with the territory).

Lack of benefits: Many bitcoin jobs offer no social security, no formal employment status, and often operate in a gray area, or completely “off the books”. For a company selling their product the whole world over for example, you would expect something else than back alley deals with whispered price agreements. The contracts however, are usually centered about keeping the employee in check and their knowledge protected.

Presence of “grifters”: Some individuals with strong reputations or connections manage to secure more lucrative positions, despite contributing little meaningful work. That’s human nature of course, and it seems to happen in in fiat, bitcoin or voluntary work alike.

bitcoin employee receiving his contract and first payment Some argue that receiving bitcoin as payment is, in itself, a form of financial (and social) security. However, this ignores the realities of daily life. In the absence of a global bitcoin standard, workers still depend on government regulations, taxation systems, and social security structures (in Europe).

For instance, if a bitcoiner falls ill for two weeks, they may lose their income entirely. Meanwhile, an employee at a tech firm, bank, or blue-chip company would typically receive paid sick leave or at least retain their job security. I know this is a fairly Euro-zone centered view, and the rest of the world has of course different ways to compensate for that. Either this happens through having lower taxation, or having more self-reliance on private savings and “buffers” to build up your own protection as an employee.

It all comes down to either getting paid more to have your expenses and social security covered by yourself, or getting paid less and leaving a cut for some state fiat system that will take care of your social benefits if they’re needed.

So far, from what I heard an experienced in a bitcoin job it’s the worst of both worlds: low(er) pay, more uncertainty and no security benefits. That’s something that can be fixed.

While social protections in the fiat system are funded through mechanisms like inflation and money printing, and a lot of taxation, their “benefits” are tangible (and expensive).

In contrast, many bitcoin jobs rely on ideological commitment, which can sometimes be exploited, where individuals are expected to work for little or no compensation - while forgoing the protections that traditional employment offers.

Even is we are more sovereign as bitcoiners you sooner or later get older, get sick, have a baby or have other phases in your life. For the companies themselves this is also a huge challenge: the hiring of people and paying them in hard money, means that their output and real life worth to the company needs to be higher in total over all employees than the holding of the same amount of bitcoin. Since bitcoin itself has the magnificent feature of not bearing yield (just holding 1 bitcoin doesn’t pay you 0.01 bitcoin dividend). Even more so, the employee is paid in bitcoin, and can thus be more free, have hard money that is inflation resistent over a longer time period. Retaining these employees for longer periods of time (if that’s your goal anyway as a bitcoin company) can be a real challenge. I don’t see how you can retain people doing an intense job while you pay them in the hardest money there is. I guess motivation is really the key here.

The fiat world has that covered (we know how of course and we know they do it though printing money and taxation).

The bitcoin world still needs to figure out how to deal with these situations. Just promising people some bitcoin is not enough.

Building a better future for bitcoin jobs One of the biggest obstacles according to me, is to a true bitcoin standard — aside from the challenge of using bitcoin for manufacturing and basic goods (which I’ll address later)— is the lack of meaningful job opportunities that provide both bitcoin salaries and financial security on a mid to longer time frame. Bitcoiners or no bitcoiners, people don’t want to hop from one job to another every few weeks.

I think sooner or later the bitcoin space will need a global bitcoin social security framework — one that reimagines financial protection for workers without simply replicating the state-run systems of the fiat world, and certainly doesn’t replicate the European systems that failed so miserably (my country for example imposes the highest tax in the world counted from employer to employee in order to pay for social benefits). If the employer pays 6000€, the taxation causes the employee to receive a mere 3440€.

Today, a bitcoin-only company is already rare. A bitcoin company that offers proper employment contracts, benefits, actually pays on time, has a future ànd has a minimal plan for some form of social protection is nearly nonexistent.

That’s why I argue: real bitcoin jobs are almost nonexistent.

What we have instead are:

• A bunch of hobby projects and side gigs in the v4v space.

• Startups that offer little to no worker protection and rely on goodwill or fantastic ideas with a lack of fundamental backing.

• A handful of legitimate companies that still depend on fiat-based social security and payment structures to operate and attract and keep talent.

The missing link: financial and social security for bitcoin jobs

We need more companies like Bitwage3 as well where bitcoin jobs and their administrative and payment handlings are taken care of (also in Europe), They must be entirely bitcoin-only or have a subsidiary that works exclusively on pure bitcoin jobs.

With a yet-to-be-invented social system which gives bitcoin employees a way to build up an securing their well-being in the long rung (bitcoiners don’t stay forever 21). That would increase this btc-job market and the legitimacy of its real life employment.

Without this, working in bitcoin will continue to feel unstable, informal, or even go “off-the-books” because of a lack of alternatives.

If bitcoin companies want to attract top talent, they need to offer more than just ideology and goodwill. There are countless people that had bad experiences with this.

Many skilled professionals currently enjoy secure fiat jobs with stable salaries, full benefits, and usually minimal effort. Yet, they want out. They know fiat jobs are a trip though quicksand.

Without a competitive alternative however, bitcoin businesses will continue to rely on those willing to struggle financially and living like a “value4value” ideologist (or even worse: grifters), others will be people that contribute real value but are underpaid and face difficulties using their bitcoin earnings for everyday expenses like rent, groceries and utilities (without resorting to questionable third-party services)

That last category of employees or possible employees is often overlooked. There’s a whole generation that doesn’t sit on a stash of bitcoin in order to fund their own “ideal job” or have ideology of an open-source encrypt everything and live on bitcoin only warrior. Some people have to pay their rent, buy food or at least know they’ll be still having a job tomorrow if they work hard.

In the oasis of a bitcoin job in 2025, you soon crawl to that one lousy coconut in that one palm tree in order to survive.

“Tick-tock next job”

Today, most so-called "bitcoin jobs" fall into one of two categories :

Not actually bitcoin-related – Corporate blockchain projects, scams, token-based schemes, memecoins, rugpull/defi/web3/NFT peddlers, and “anything on the blockchain” services without a proper oracle… and other type of distractions. These are sometimes presented as bitcoin jobs, yet they aren’t.

Paid in bitcoin but lacking real merit : Low or mediocre wages, no benefits and no worker protection, in an industry where your value lasts about as long as the average block time (pun intended).

Well-paid longer term real bitcoin jobs: Good pay, on the books, meaningful and well organized pure bitcoin job, for the happy few who have good connections.

If bitcoin employment is to be more than just a passion project where dedicated workers struggle while CEOs and media personalities live lavishly, we need a sustainable framework that provides real financial longevity, funding and real bitcoin jobs.

Without it, bitcoin will remain an industry with unstable or even sketchy niche job offerings, with neither long-term careers nor financial (let alone social) security. If people can’t build a future in bitcoin jobs, the right talent won’t be attracted in the first place. Which is amazing, come to thing of it, we’re probably the only industry that thrives on hard money, we should have the most quality jobs and most happy employees.

Passion alone isn’t enough. When everyone knows bitcoin jobs are short-term or unstable, motivation dwindles. The reality is that some people, myself included, would rather endure a dull fiat job, than waste their valuable time and money on an industry that fails to offer real career prospects and real support for their talent.

All the billions held by all these big companies and fund, is not put to use for their actual builders and talent it seems. I can’t explain the billions of holdings and on the other side, the total lack of funding happening on projects and startups.

More so, the vast majority of bitcoin jobs are nor jobs, nor bitcoin jobs or not anything that can be defined as such. And it shows.

That’s why a lot of products and services are currently in the lousy (lazy) state they’re in and that’s why almost all bitcoiners are either stuck in a fiat job or work within the bitcoin system for peanuts out of ideology or through good connections. Right now, other than the possible btc in your wallet, there’s little to no difference between bitcoin jobs and fiat jobs in that regard. No wonder choosing safety of a fiat job still wins, and I hope that will change one day. Until then, working for Bill Lumbergh has it’s perks.

by Kim De Vos for AVB tips: here

Disclaimer: To provide content more regularly, I occasionally write my posts with AI assistance. Rest assured, the core ideas and writing are always 100% my own creation and it’s edited by at least two humans!

Footnotes:

1 definition : The word "sham" refers to something that is theater or designed to deceive. It describes a situation, scheme, or entity that appears legitimate on the surface but lacks substance, authenticity, or real core values.

2 https://t.me/bitvocationfeed

3 https://bitwage.com/en-us/The dream

For many people who learned to use, work with, understand and hold bitcoin, one goal consistently stands out: the dream to one day work in a bitcoin job.\ In my entourage, this was for a long time the main thing most tried to achieve.

The prospect of such job is to work in the bitcoin industry and it seems like a lofty goal: it combines innovation, technology and the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded individuals while earning bitcoin. It’s also “cool”.\ \ It’s an industry (yes, it’s an industry now) that thrives on the promise of that ultimate payout: hard money, bitcoin.\ Who wouldn’t want that?\ Certainly if you word in a fiat job right now.

At the same time, this longing comes with certain expectations. People assume a bitcoin-related job will be exciting, rewarding, efficient, well-funded and will happen in a professional environment - that often is lacking in fiat jobs.

I hate to break it to you, fellow bitcoiners, but the oasis of bitcoin jobs you’re crawling toward through the scorching fiat desert is mostly a mirage. Once you arrive at what seems like a place of plenty, you’ll find just a few orange-colored rocks and maybe a lone palm tree with a single, withered coconut barely hanging on.

The main reason? The reality of bitcoin jobs isn’t as different from fiat jobs as you might expect—at least, not yet.\ \ After all, bitcoiners should be “better” people, right? Unlike those fiat wage slaves who don’t realize that being paid in dirty fiat slowly makes them poorer, we like to think we’re ahead of the curve. We feel more vindicated, more enlightened—bitcoiners are the better, more evolved kind. Or so we tell ourselves.\ \ The realization of how hard money actually shapes society has not yet fully matured. We’re all still in the discovery phase. Even with die hard bitcoiners and their respective job industry aren’t there yet. During this discovery phase, it’s important to not let ourselves be blinded by the sun in the desert. We need not to be blinded by the promises and the ideology to let ourselves be taken advantage of by fiat-minded people, even if they own a bitcoin company.\ \ Hard money is the way forward. Bitcoin is the way forward. Most people and certainly their jobs and companies are lagging behind that reality.

Such a job is not (yet) going to bring you Valhalla (or its equivalent) in the form of a well-paid bitcoin job.\ \ Let’s walk over the reasons as to why that is.

The Fiat (Brain) Drain

We don’t need to spend much time summarizing how soul-crushing a fiat job can be. Countless books, blogs, and social media rants already detail how monotonous, pointless, and draining traditional employment is. And for those of you that need a crash course on that: The 1999 movie Office Space remains a masterpiece in this regard. By now, we’ve all worked for a version of “Bill Lumbergh” at one point or another.

Bill Lumbergh at Initech (Office Space)

From a bitcoiner’s perspective, a fiat job is merely a temporary solution to the problem of liquidity for consumer tokens — tokens printed for free by an entity like a state system, which itself is a tax, deb-and-war engine. At the same time, there’s a good chance to get people out of their fiat jobs, purely on this promise, as I wrote in “the fiat brain drain“.\ \ If you operate within that fiat world, you’re bound to these forces. On top of that, your purchasing power is continually siphoned away through inflation, and you get taxed out of any long-term wealth buildup. On the other hand, that same fiat system makes you dependent on their return in social safety and being regarded as “OK”.

Most bitcoiners want a bitcoin job, exactly to escape this pit of misery. To leave this Linkedin-vortex of fake, the loser mentality, its hierarchical nonsense and bureaucratic drudgery that will soon be rendered obsolete by automation and AI, compounding with the ongoing brain drain at the top of the innovation pyramid.

That’s a long-winded way of saying: a fiat job is financial quicksand. And you’re knee-deep in it.

The solution? “bitcoin jobs”

\ If a bitcoin job were truly the answer, the solution would be simple: launch a bitcoin company, hire bitcoiners willing to work for bitcoin and start building products and services that function in both the fiat and bitcoin worlds—emphasizing the transition to better money: bitcoin.

But without capital, you’re stuck, whether in fiat or bitcoin.

The framework may shift slightly, but the fundamental problem remains. Those with capital can secure real bitcoin jobs or start real bitcoin companies, just as those with financial backing in the fiat world can choose work, they enjoy without worrying about pay or job-hunting struggles.

That’s not to say someone with limited funds and no capital can’t start such a company, but they’ll quickly run into funding issues. bitcoin jobs require payment in bitcoin but also fiat funds to pay for real life goods at most suppliers and services. Unless you build your own office (if you need one anyway) you’ll be paying in fiat to rent some office space (pun intended).

If you lack capital (in bitcoin), you’ll hit a wall sooner rather than later.\ So, in comes “other capital” to save you.

Relying on larger entities, whether venture capital firms or industry-supporting companies, to cover expenses also comes at the cost of independence; if they even provide funding at all.\ \ While there's no shortage of hype and excitement around bitcoin projects, actual funding for many of these ventures is speculative at best. When you want to help these projects out for free, there’s also no shortage of open arms, welcoming the free hours of work for a project you’re passionate about.

Numerous startups in the crypto space operate on shoestring budgets, relying on ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) or venture capital more interested in hype than substance. This creates a precarious job environment where projects can disappear as quickly as they emerge, leaving employees stranded.

Sustainability, or lack thereof, is another major concern.\ Bitcoin jobs that promise longevity often come with a caveat: they're here today, but there's no guarantee they’ll last until next month.\ The market’s volatility means projects can lose funding or pivot dramatically within months of no technical challenges or a dry up for demand pops up.\ Finding a position with a horizon beyond a few months in the future is rare, making long-term career planning in this sector a gamble. Most of these jobs are not even bitcoin jobs, but are presented that way. They’re mostly a sham!1

\ Pay up

\ Then there's the pay.\ \ Even if you secure a position, and it’s a bit more long-term, then the promise of "decent, livable pay" is often unfulfilled.\ While some roles offer competitive salaries, many pay in bitcoin, which fluctuates of course (by the way, that’s a good thing, volatility is our friend).\ The trustworthiness of some of these bitcoin jobs, mostly at smaller startups can get even worse, where you as an employee are at risk to not receive promised payments at all due to funding issues.

The bitcoin job market presents a paradox: it's full of opportunities, yet few meet the criteria for being well-funded, sustainable, and offering reliable compensation and protection.\ For those looking to build a career in this space, caution is key do your due diligence, don’t trust verify on potential employers and diversify your own skills can help mitigate the risks somewhat.

Until the industry matures and offers greater stability and accountability, the allure of bitcoin jobs may remain problematic.

The harsh reality is, that the carrot of a bitcoin job, that’s been dangling in front of most bitcoiners’ eyes for a long time, is tempting, but mostly just that: an unreachable goal, not because you can’t get that job, but more because that job was a mirage on itself.\ The dream that most of us have is to leave the rat-race with its unfulfilling fiat jobs, to work in a better way, a job that pays in hard money and builds a better world.\ \ I’m afraid that dream is just that: a dream. These jobs are mostly reserved for the inner-circle of some venture capitalist’s entourage or revolve around making use (or misuse) of bitcoiner’s ideology and goals in life.

But there’s hope

Many people want to be paid in bitcoin, but until we transition to a bitcoin standard, they still need to cover expenses in a fiat-dominated world.

Finding a good fiat job is exhausting. And once you’ve been fully orange-pilled, earning fiat starts to feel like an even bigger scam—arguably worse than the Value for Value model.\ In the end, you’ll either work for peanuts or turn into a peanut yourself — a very salty one at that.

Definition

Let’s clarify what a bitcoin job" actually is, since the term often gets misused for anything remotely fintech or crypto-related anyway.

A bitcoin job involves real, tangible work — simply holding a title isn’t enough. It provides income paid directly in bitcoin, not in stocks, tokens (or other cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin).\ It requires a significant commitment of time, making it distinct from minor side gigs like washing a neighbor’s car — unless that gig somehow becomes your primary source of income.

Owning a company doesn’t count as a job on its own; you must be actively working in it (for example as a real hands-on developer or COO/CEO).\ \ The role must be tied to a legitimate organization — a company or corporation — not just a loosely organized WhatsApp group pretending to be a business. It should be official, meaning it’s on the books, taxable where applicable, and, in some cases (such as in the EU), may even come with social benefits and retirement benefit buildup.

The focus must remain bitcoin only. Companies dealing exclusively in altcoins, memecoins, hype-cycles and the likes don’t qualify. Multi-cryptocurrency businesses, like exchanges or DeFi platforms, are more fintech than pure bitcoin.\ For example, a job at a bitcoin-only hardware company fits the definition, whereas a position at a Solana based trading platform does not.\ \ About that real work: A disorganized WhatsApp group isn’t a company but a hobby project.

If a job doesn’t meet these criteria above, it’s unlikely to be a true bitcoin job. Looking at listings on platforms like Bitvocation2 (link) or the job sections of bitcoin/crypto companies, many roles appear to be standard fiat economy positions but within a bitcoin (or altcoins) focused company.\ (by the way, the Bitvocation team runs an excellent service that has a direct reach from open vacancies towards possible employees,… I love it).

For example, an HR role at a bitcoin company is fundamentally the same as one at a traditional fiat company (except for the occasional ordering of extra black hoodies for employees).\ Choosing to be paid in bitcoin may qualify it as a “bitcoin job,” but the role itself would exist in any industry. These positions could be considered bitcoin jobs since they contribute to our ecosystem while being financially tied to it.

From personal experience and observations, smaller bitcoin startups face significant challenges in securing funding.\ What is puzzling about this, that all this difficult environment to get a projects/startups funded happens, despite bitcoin being a trillion-dollar asset and major holders like Strategy accumulating nearly 500,000 BTC.

Top bitcoin company holdings:

BlackRock IBIT: 587,050 BTC\ Strategy (MSTR): 478,740 BTC\ Coinbase (COIN): 1,051,650 BTC\ Binance: 765,072 BTC\ Bitfinex: 359,687 BTC

Beyond funding, these startups also struggle to attract talent for a longer period of time. Traditional finance, fintech and even the broader cryptocurrency industry usually offer higher salaries and more perceived prestige (not in the bitcoin space, but outside) along with the perks of having a half fiat / “crypto” job.\ \ Employees who choose to work in bitcoin often do so for ideological reasons, willingly giving up the stability and structure of traditional industries. This is both a strength and a risk. While bitcoin startups operate in a highly innovative space, they also face volatility and uncertainty.

The survival rate of bitcoin startups is low—around 10% make it past three years (according to Seedtable data). Most crypto-related job openings come from DeFi projects and general crypto firms, while jobs focused solely on bitcoin are typically backed by venture capital.

For instance: Fedi (federated lightning “all-in one freedom tool”) is employing between 27 and 50 people according to publicly available data. It’s backed by ‘Ego Death Capital’.\ \ Other key VC firms in the bitcoin space include:

Axiom BTC\ Bitcoin Opportunity Fund\ Bitcoiner Ventures\ Epoch VC\ Lightning Ventures\ Ten31\ Timechain VC

These firms play a crucial role in sustaining bitcoin-only businesses, as traditional funding routes remain scarce.\ Once inside these companies, there’s often a push for maximum efficiency and lean operations — while working with hard money. This paradox is frequently overlooked. Hard money means a long term time horizon. While bitcoin jobs often offer the polar opposite.

Bitcoin jobs are highly competitive on a global scale as well. Much like remote fiat jobs, most bitcoin-related roles can be done from anywhere in the world, meaning candidates are competing with a vast international talent pool.\ This makes securing a position even more challenging (especially for Europeans) in an industry that operates in a fast-changing and often challenging technological landscape from a marketing and cost/benefits perspective.

For example, a company developing a bitcoin PoS (point-of-sale) system for cash registers and checkout online, needs traction to sell its product and grow its user base but needs fiat funds to acquire material and develop point of sale devices and software.\ \ This requires sales people, developers and a substantial portion of marketing efforts. That’s something that cannot be sustained solely by grassroots initiatives on bitcoin alone, and can’t be achieved by a single developer working out of a small studio on his own.\ To scale, these companies often rely on seed funding, venture capital or grants from larger bitcoin-focused firms. Even then, working for such companies, even if you’re really motivated often doesn’t pay the (fiat) bills.

The same applies to teams building something on Lightning Network, projects developing on Liquid or companies attempting to establish bitcoin-native lending platforms and the likes. If (like me) you want to work for them, be prepared to do it either for free, off the books or for peanuts… or become a peanut yourself.

The realities of bitcoin Jobs

\ Based on my experience working in bitcoin-related roles—particularly within the EU (where taxation and regulations are more rigid and social security systems are extensive) several common challenges emerged:

High intensity: The work often demands significant time and effort due to the passion-driven nature of the industry. This is good, a fiat job is often draining, while a bitcoin job is more energetic and intense in nature. We’re building something good. It’s also good to remember that this energy is often used to make you do the work, without the reward.

Lower pay: At least in my experience; salaries tend to be lower compared to traditional tech or finance roles, and I’ve even seen bickering over the price like it was a flee market.

Funding struggles: Many bitcoin startups face ongoing financial uncertainty, troubles finding investors, or getting investors that cancel their deals or disappear entirely.

Constant involvement: There’s little room to “clock out” at 5 PM; engagement is often expected beyond regular hours (it comes with the territory).

Lack of benefits: Many bitcoin jobs offer no social security, no formal employment status, and often operate in a gray area, or completely “off the books”.\ For a company selling their product the whole world over for example, you would expect something else than back alley deals with whispered price agreements. The contracts however, are usually centered about keeping the employee in check and their knowledge protected.

Presence of “grifters”: Some individuals with strong reputations or connections manage to secure more lucrative positions, despite contributing little meaningful work. That’s human nature of course, and it seems to happen in in fiat, bitcoin or voluntary work alike.

bitcoin employee receiving his contract and first payment

Some argue that receiving bitcoin as payment is, in itself, a form of financial (and social) security. However, this ignores the realities of daily life. In the absence of a global bitcoin standard, workers still depend on government regulations, taxation systems, and social security structures (in Europe).

For instance, if a bitcoiner falls ill for two weeks, they may lose their income entirely. Meanwhile, an employee at a tech firm, bank, or blue-chip company would typically receive paid sick leave or at least retain their job security.\ I know this is a fairly Euro-zone centered view, and the rest of the world has of course different ways to compensate for that. Either this happens through having lower taxation, or having more self-reliance on private savings and “buffers” to build up your own protection as an employee.\ \ It all comes down to either getting paid more to have your expenses and social security covered by yourself, or getting paid less and leaving a cut for some state fiat system that will take care of your social benefits if they’re needed.\ \ So far, from what I heard an experienced in a bitcoin job it’s the worst of both worlds: low(er) pay, more uncertainty and no security benefits. That’s something that can be fixed.

While social protections in the fiat system are funded through mechanisms like inflation and money printing, and a lot of taxation, their “benefits” are tangible (and expensive).\ \ In contrast, many bitcoin jobs rely on ideological commitment, which can sometimes be exploited, where individuals are expected to work for little or no compensation - while forgoing the protections that traditional employment offers.\ \ Even is we are more sovereign as bitcoiners you sooner or later get older, get sick, have a baby or have other phases in your life.\ For the companies themselves this is also a huge challenge: the hiring of people and paying them in hard money, means that their output and real life worth to the company needs to be higher in total over all employees than the holding of the same amount of bitcoin. Since bitcoin itself has the magnificent feature of not bearing yield (just holding 1 bitcoin doesn’t pay you 0.01 bitcoin dividend).\ Even more so, the employee is paid in bitcoin, and can thus be more free, have hard money that is inflation resistent over a longer time period. Retaining these employees for longer periods of time (if that’s your goal anyway as a bitcoin company) can be a real challenge. I don’t see how you can retain people doing an intense job while you pay them in the hardest money there is.\ I guess motivation is really the key here.\ \ The fiat world has that covered (we know how of course and we know they do it though printing money and taxation).\ \ The bitcoin world still needs to figure out how to deal with these situations. Just promising people some bitcoin is not enough.

Building a better future for bitcoin jobs

One of the biggest obstacles according to me, is to a true bitcoin standard — aside from the challenge of using bitcoin for manufacturing and basic goods (which I’ll address later)— is the lack of meaningful job opportunities that provide both bitcoin salaries and financial security on a mid to longer time frame.\ Bitcoiners or no bitcoiners, people don’t want to hop from one job to another every few weeks.

I think sooner or later the bitcoin space will need a global bitcoin social security framework — one that reimagines financial protection for workers without simply replicating the state-run systems of the fiat world, and certainly doesn’t replicate the European systems that failed so miserably (my country for example imposes the highest tax in the world counted from employer to employee in order to pay for social benefits).\ If the employer pays 6000€, the taxation causes the employee to receive a mere 3440€.\ \ Today, a bitcoin-only company is already rare.\ A bitcoin company that offers proper employment contracts, benefits, actually pays on time, has a future ànd has a minimal plan for some form of social protection is nearly nonexistent.

That’s why I argue: real bitcoin jobs are almost nonexistent.

What we have instead are:\ \ - A bunch of hobby projects and side gigs in the v4v space.

- Startups that offer little to no worker protection and rely on goodwill or fantastic ideas with a lack of fundamental backing.

- A handful of legitimate companies that still depend on fiat-based social security and payment structures to operate and attract and keep talent.

The missing link: financial and social security for bitcoin jobs

\ We need more companies like Bitwage3 as well where bitcoin jobs and their administrative and payment handlings are taken care of (also in Europe), They must be entirely bitcoin-only or have a subsidiary that works exclusively on pure bitcoin jobs.\ \ With a yet-to-be-invented social system which gives bitcoin employees a way to build up an securing their well-being in the long rung (bitcoiners don’t stay forever 21).\ That would increase this btc-job market and the legitimacy of its real life employment.\ \ Without this, working in bitcoin will continue to feel unstable, informal, or even go “off-the-books” because of a lack of alternatives.

If bitcoin companies want to attract top talent, they need to offer more than just ideology and goodwill.\ There are countless people that had bad experiences with this.\ \ Many skilled professionals currently enjoy secure fiat jobs with stable salaries, full benefits, and usually minimal effort. Yet, they want out. They know fiat jobs are a trip though quicksand.\ \ Without a competitive alternative however, bitcoin businesses will continue to rely on those willing to struggle financially and living like a “value4value” ideologist (or even worse: grifters), others will be people that contribute real value but are underpaid and face difficulties using their bitcoin earnings for everyday expenses like rent, groceries and utilities (without resorting to questionable third-party services)

That last category of employees or possible employees is often overlooked. There’s a whole generation that doesn’t sit on a stash of bitcoin in order to fund their own “ideal job” or have ideology of an open-source encrypt everything and live on bitcoin only warrior. Some people have to pay their rent, buy food or at least know they’ll be still having a job tomorrow if they work hard.\ \ In the oasis of a bitcoin job in 2025, you soon crawl to that one lousy coconut in that one palm tree in order to survive.

“Tick-tock next job”

\ Today, most so-called "bitcoin jobs" fall into one of two categories :

1. Not actually bitcoin-related – Corporate blockchain projects, scams, token-based schemes, memecoins, rugpull/defi/web3/NFT peddlers, and “anything on the blockchain” services without a proper oracle… and other type of distractions.\ These are sometimes presented as bitcoin jobs, yet they aren’t.

2. Paid in bitcoin but lacking real merit :\ Low or mediocre wages, no benefits and no worker protection, in an industry where your value lasts about as long as the average block time (pun intended).

3. Well-paid longer term real bitcoin jobs:\ Good pay, on the books, meaningful and well organized pure bitcoin job, for the happy few who have good connections.

If bitcoin employment is to be more than just a passion project where dedicated workers struggle while CEOs and media personalities live lavishly, we need a sustainable framework that provides real financial longevity, funding and real bitcoin jobs.

Without it, bitcoin will remain an industry with unstable or even sketchy niche job offerings, with neither long-term careers nor financial (let alone social) security.\ If people can’t build a future in bitcoin jobs, the right talent won’t be attracted in the first place. Which is amazing, come to thing of it, we’re probably the only industry that thrives on hard money, we should have the most quality jobs and most happy employees.

Passion alone isn’t enough.\ When everyone knows bitcoin jobs are short-term or unstable, motivation dwindles. The reality is that some people, myself included, would rather endure a dull fiat job, than waste their valuable time and money on an industry that fails to offer real career prospects and real support for their talent.\ \ All the billions held by all these big companies and fund, is not put to use for their actual builders and talent it seems. I can’t explain the billions of holdings and on the other side, the total lack of funding happening on projects and startups.\ \ More so, the vast majority of bitcoin jobs are nor jobs, nor bitcoin jobs or not anything that can be defined as such.\ And it shows.\ \ That’s why a lot of products and services are currently in the lousy (lazy) state they’re in and that’s why almost all bitcoiners are either stuck in a fiat job or work within the bitcoin system for peanuts out of ideology or through good connections.\ Right now, other than the possible btc in your wallet, there’s little to no difference between bitcoin jobs and fiat jobs in that regard.\ No wonder choosing safety of a fiat job still wins, and I hope that will change one day.\ Until then, working for Bill Lumbergh has it’s perks.

by Kim De Vos for AVB\ tips: here

Disclaimer: To provide content more regularly, I occasionally write my posts with AI assistance. Rest assured, the core ideas and writing are always 100% my own creation and it’s edited by at least two humans!

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Footnotes:

1

definition : The word "sham" refers to something that is theater or designed to deceive. It describes a situation, scheme, or entity that appears legitimate on the surface but lacks substance, authenticity, or real core values.

2

https://t.me/bitvocationfeed

3

https://bitwage.com/en-us/