As Web3 becomes more mainstream, we’re often asked how candidates can transition from Web2, and what the challenges/barriers are that could stop someone from entering the space.

The good news is… it isn’t impossible to transition.

Web3 companies do accept talented people from the Web2 sphere, as there are some transferrable skills between the two.

That being said you can definitely make your transition smoother by following our top 3 tips on how to transition from Web2 to Web3.

• Be involved in Web3 communities
• Make sure you have personal projects in the space
• Highlight your relevant skills and technologies

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Be involved in Web3 communities

Web3 communities play an important role within the space. They’re an environment where likeminded people can get together to collaborate and shape the future of Web3, Crypto and blockchain.

Not only are communities a great opportunity to expand your knowledge on new projects and developments, but also to help build your own personal network. As you know, professional relationships are key – especially when entering a new space.

So how do you find communities to join?

There are multiple ways you can join a community:

• Social Media, such as, Twitter, Reddit and Telegram
• Blockchain conferences
• Online courses and forums

Make sure you have personal projects in the space

Web3 is complex. Especially for people who are new to the space, meaning that it can be a minefield to navigate. But throwing yourself in the deep end (so to speak) will fast track you to understanding the lingo and learning the necessary skills.

The best way to do this is to have your own personal projects. Not only will it help improve your skillsets but it will show companies that you’re serious about the space, its development and your involvement in it.

Web3, Crypto and blockchain’s popularity is growing fast, so being able to showcase your own personal projects means that you can stay ahead of the crowd.

Highlight your relevant skills and technologies

This may sound obvious but before you apply for a job, make sure you’ve highlighted any relevant skills and technologies you’ve used. Include any transferrable skills that are an added bonus to the role your applying for.

For those wanting a role in development/engineering, skills such as, react, type scripting and up-to-date front and back end coding skills are key.

If you’re looking for a role in marketing or community, be sure to include metrics on how you’ve helped a company grow and any product launches you’ve done as well.

Why make a move to Web3?

Web3 offers endless possibilities for innovation and development, with some hailing it the future of the internet. As with any new technology, there are still teething issues, which can result in a volatile marketplace.

However, with any new adventure comes risk. But sometimes you need risk in order to a part of something exciting.

Education is key! Learning more about the space and spreading that knowledge will help to build mass adoption of Web3 – something you could be at the forefront of.

Key Takeaway

Prove that you’re interested and keen in developing the space. Yes being part of Web3 can be a lucrative adventure but that can’t be your only motivation to wanting to be involved.

Showcase what you can bring to the table by following the 3 tips above.

Need help with hiring the best talent onto your team? Check out our services and how we can help you grow!

On November 10, 2022, Solana seemed like the future of the crypto industry. By November 11, that wasn’t so clear anymore. Many labeled the chain dead following the FTX crash, but the fall of Solana didn’t happen overnight. 

Over half a year on, we can already see signs of Solana’s resurgence.

So how did Solana rise, and fall, and rise again?

Let’s dive in.

The Rise of Solana

In the crypto beginning, there was Bitcoin. Then, Ethereum came around, proposing a faster, more environmentally friendly blockchain technology. A few years later, the idea of an “Ethereum killer” was introduced; a competitive Layer One blockchain that offered increased transactions per second and lower gas fees – Solana.  

Solana’s transaction speed is up to 65,000 TPS as opposed to Ethereum’s 10,000 TPS; at its creation, it was easily the fastest blockchain. Like Ethereum, Solana supports smart contracts and NFTs, allowing for diverse application development. Raydium, Serum, Solend, and Star Atlas are only a few follow-worthy Solana projects. Magic Eden competes with OpenSea as an NFT marketplace, and Audius, a Solana-based decentralized streaming platform, is often dubbed as Spotify killer. 

But the real reason behind Solana’s skyrocketing success wasn’t solely its speed and versatility. Solana provided crucial crypto network scalability, supporting the increasing load of nodes without affecting performance. How? By using an innovative consensus mechanism known as “Proof of History.”

Proof-of-History allowed nodes to verify transactions without communicating directly with each other. This enabled many more transactions per second.

The Lingering Issues with Solana

Solana seemed poised to fulfil its title and steal market share away from Ethereum. And for a while, it did, reaching nearly 6% of total DeFi TVL in late 2021. 

Unfortunately, by 2022 a number of problems emerged. Solana suffered recurring power outages – first in December 2020, then nine more in 2022. And if 2020 Solana had barely any users on the chain, 2022 disruptions caused major inconvenience to investors, keeping their funds locked for up to 17 hours. In one such instance, SOL fell by over 12%. 

Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana’s co-founder, responded by promising a long-term fix. But in the meantime,  Solana developed even bigger issues to worry about. 

Hacks plagued the network throughout 2022. In August, over $5 million worth of Solana-based tokens were stolen from approximately 8,000 users’ wallets. In October, over $100 million were drained from Mango Markets in a flash loan attack. In that case, hackers borrowed funds without collateral, then bought a huge amount of crypto to artificially raise its price and offloaded the coins.  

In May-June 2022, Solana’s on-chain clock drifted about 30 minutes backward, resulting in annualized staking rewards. Solana transaction confirmation times surged to 15-20 seconds, nullifying the chain’s main advantage over the likes of Ethereum.  

Place Solana’s troubles against a backdrop of increasing crypto doubt and a bear market, and the chain faced ever-stronger headwinds. 

That could be seen clearly in the SOL token’s performance. Late 2021, SOL cruised to record heights, peaking at $258. Then came a string of bad news, and by early 2022 SOL had already lost half its value.

An Overview of Solana’s Market Crash

Fact is, Solana was in decline well before the broader crypto crash. But one particular bear-market blow nearly proved to be a knockout punch for the supposed crypto-killer.

During Breakpoint 2022 conference in Lisbon, Yakovenko talked about the challenges faced by Solana. Little did he know what was to come. Less than two weeks later, over $500 million was drained from Solana following the collapse of FTX. As of November 14,2022, the TVL in Solana’s ecosystem stood at $330 billion. By December, TVL dropped to $10 billion, an astounding 96.75% decline.  

Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged FTX fraud prompted questions for Solana’s founders. SBF was a large investor in the chain and had even founded the Serum project. How much did Solana know about the troubles at FTX, and when? The Solana Foundation was quick to share the details of its financial ties with FTX and Alameda Research, and has so far avoided any investigation. 

Regardless, the FTX disaster knocked SOL down another 50%, from around $30 to under $15.   

What does the future look like for Solana?

The depths of late 2022 turned into the grim realities of a crypto bear market in 2023. Despite the prevailing headwinds, Solana has gone through the first half with some surprising signs of life. There are several reasons to be optimistic.

First, Solana has a large treasury estimated to last for another two years, taking it well into 2024/2025.

Second, Solana’s developer community is massive. Solana remains a fast blockchain with low fees, an accessible programming language, and many developer tools. Want proof? Take a look at how many recent projects are still adding functionality to the Solana network. 

Third, despite the dip, Solana is the second largest NFT ecosystem, right after Ethereum. Solanart, Magic Eden, DigitalEyes Market, and Solsea are standing strong, even if DeGods and y00ts will migrate to other blockchains. In fact, in January 2023, Solana NFTs reached $158,000,000 in sales – twice the previous month, and the highest level since May 2022. And in June, Solana’s NFT market briefly surpassed Ethereum, showing that in NFTs, at least, Solana may yet prove to be an ETH-killer, with AI-powered NFT tools set to make their debut on the network. 

Lastly, SOL’s price is already recovering. After dropping to just over $9 at the end of 2022, SOL has surpassed a mark of $23 by mid-January. Many of those still believing in Solana saw the dip as an opportunity to buy low.  

Tweets from the Solana community prove users aren’t yet ready to give up on the chain. What’s more impressive, Solana continues to attract new users – daily active wallets have tripled since FTX collapse.

Source: https://twitter.com/CoinMarketCap/status/1623494390843944962?s=20&t=2WYFK6-ZoEm3NaV5eDwA5Q

None of those reasons by itself guarantees Solana’s success. But together, they demonstrate a continued case for Solana – and proof that the network lives on. 

Keep an eye on Solana for the rest of 2023.

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Crypto began – and thrived – in an unregulated market. That lack of regulation spawned an explosion of crypto applications and steadily-increasing adoption.

But as we’ve seen recently, crypto’s rampant growth fuelled both technological innovation and numerous instances of fraud. Meteoric growth brought an increasingly sharp eye to the crypto market from regulators and government agencies.

Market turmoil has continued into 2023, and regulators and industry leaders continue to look for some kind of framework for crypto.

One problem? No two frameworks are the same. Some authorities are seeking to ban crypto activities completely, while others welcome and support them. Even classifying “crypto” has proven to be a challenge.

One thing is becoming increasingly clear, both to regulators and the crypto industry itself. Simply applying existing financial laws to the crypto market hasn’t worked. The new market requires a new regulatory framework. 

That said, let’s take a dive into the current and upcoming crypto regulations in the US, EU, and beyond.  

What are the crypto regulations in the US?

A crackdown, but how far?

The current US regulatory framework – whatever it is – began in 2022. That’s when the White House released the first-ever framework for digital asset regulation, aimed at preventing insolvencies resulting from coin crashes and fraud, and reinforcing the US leadership in the global financial system. But what’s in it, exactly? 

• The framework suggests that authorities might amend the Bank Secrecy Act to raise penalties against unlicensed money transmission. This change would allow the DOJ to prosecute digital asset crimes wherever they occur.  
• The US government continues to show interest in a CBDC or a digital form of the US dollar. While electronic dollars already exist in some commercial bank accounts, a CBDC could, in theory, provide many of the same use cases as crypto.
• Regulators would certainly prefer a central-bank-controlled CBDC over independent stablecoins. But numerous issues remain, since CBDCs lack the trading opportunities and diverse applications of crypto.   
• The overall tone of the framework was aggressive, calling on existing regulators (the SEC, CFTC, and FTC, among others) to take a tougher stance on crypto bad actors.

In short, the Biden administration clearly wanted to bring the crypto market under the auspices of the US-led financial system. In the long run, that means applying many of the same rules to crypto that currently hold for other aspects of finance, including the stock market.

One example? Existing rules that require US-based crypto exchanges to verify user IDs before allowing them to trade. US citizens must also pay property tax on cryptocurrency transactions. Some crypto assets are considered a security if they pass the Howey test, and US regulators look like they’ll apply that standard more stringently in the future (notice the language about securities in the SEC filings against Sam Bankman-Fried). 

The key player in US crypto regulations is the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC). The SEC has made it clear that part of its job is to bring even major crypto exchanges like Binance to heel. Gary Gensler, SEC Chairman, hinted at future actions back in April, when he appeared in front of Congress to argue for tighter enforcement. 

But everything became much clearer in June 2023, when the SEC formally announced charges against Binance for trading unregistered securities.

Those charges, which will take some time to play out in the courts, hold the potential to clarify exactly where US regulations stand. In the meantime, arguments continue to swirl over the SEC’s uneven approach.

How will the crackdown impact the growth of crypto in the US? It’s still impossible to say. Some analysts think that ultimately even tighter restrictions won’t drive the market away, although investors looking for more favourable regulatory climates might be better served in the UK.

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An overview of the regulations in Europe

Uneven Ground 

The EU hasn’t yet found a middle ground in the crypto regulation debate. Since 2015, the exchange of fiat currencies for cryptocurrencies are exempt from VAT under the Court of Justice of the European Union directive. In 2020, crypto exchanges came under the EU anti-money laundering legislation, requiring them to perform KYC on users. Cybercrime (which includes crypto) is now on the list of money laundering offenses. Member states have different regulations for exchange registration and liability.  

Current EU crypto laws aren’t too strict, but what’s in the works? In 2022, the EU introduced MiCA – the new Market in Crypto-Assets Regulation. Unlike the Biden-proposed framework covering all digital assets, MiCA focuses specifically on cryptocurrencies. Europe accounts for roughly a quarter of the world’s crypto activity, which explains the need for a comprehensive regulatory regime. And crypto adoption, at least in Europe, has seen a publicity boost with high-profile uses like donations to Ukraine.

MiCA defines cryptocurrencies and categorizes them into three groups: exchange, utility, security and e-money tokens, and provides for three interconnected regulatory frameworks. Regimes were developed for offering stablecoins and non-stablecoins to the public and carrying out crypto-asset services. MiCA’s final text hasn’t yet been published, but the EU Parliament, Council, and Commission have reached a provisional agreement. Interestingly, NFTs are only mentioned once in the proposal, and they don’t fall under MiCA regulations. Moreover, the proposal doesn’t cover crypto lending and borrowing.  

Note that the EU Parliament voted against the PoW ban – good news for Bitcoin miners. 

What are the current UK crypto regulations?

At the beginning of the month, the His Majesty’s government published a consultation and call  for feedback on a new proposed crypto framework – the lovingly-titled “Future Financial Services Regulatory Regime for Cryptoassets.” Eighty pages long, the document makes for fairly dry reading.

But what stands out is the UK’s apparently liberal approach to crypto. The UK government clearly believes crypto will be a major part of finance in the future, and is interested in controlling, rather than curtailing, any crypto evolution.  

That attitude was born out by the recent passing of the Financial Service and Markets Bill, which operates similar to the EU’s MiCA proposals. The bill lays out some basic regulations for exchanges and stablecoins, among other crypto-related items, and establishes regulatory authority for those assets. Now that the bill has passed, it could come into force as soon as autumn 2023. 

Regulation in Australia – Finally, a Crypto Classification System!

Australia – not necessarily the biggest crypto player – made big news last year with their own regulatory proposal. Interestingly, Australia’s document, which comes in at a solid 60 pages, spends a considerable amount of time defining key terms. 

Crypto networks, crypto tokens, and smart contracts form three layers of crypto. Any financial services built on those layers take one of four forms:

• Crypto asset services
• Intermediated crypto assets
• Network tokens
• Smart contracts

The paper, titled simply “Token Mapping,” provides what few others do: a detailed potential definition for crypto assets and crypto financial services. 

Crypto regulations across the rest of the world?  

The rest of the world doesn’t seem as concerned with setting crypto regulations in stone as the above regions. Still, each region has differing laws regarding crypto. For instance: 

• Canadian crypto exchanges fall under the same regulation as traditional money services. Crypto issuers must follow disclosure procedures outlined by the Canadian Securities Administrators. Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, but crypto transactions are taxed as property.  
• Singapore taxes crypto as goods and legally allows crypto trading and exchange under the Payment Services Act 2019. However, in 2022, the Monetary Authority of Singapore prohibited the advertisement of crypto services.  
• Hong Kong is arguing against China’s recent outright crypto ban.  
• Japan, too, treats cryptocurrency as property under the Payment Services Act and taxes it as miscellaneous income. Recent amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act distinguished between virtual currency and cryptocurrency and eased restrictions on trading. At the same time, Japan has extremely strict laws for exchange registration – the process can take over six months.  

Shifting opinions about crypto regulations

WEF explains the need for stricter regulation with financial stability, innovation, and sustainability. Here are a few highlights: 

• Cryptocurrency service providers will be forced to disclose energy consumption and the impact of their assets on the environment.  
• The development of regulations signals a widespread adoption of virtual assets.  
• Cryptocurrency issuers will have to publish white papers outlining the technical aspects of their tokens or services.
• Alignment with traditional financial institutions may soften the market volatility.  

Regulations undoubtedly benefit the authorities. But do they benefit the public? Decentralization and anonymity were the main drivers of the crypto market in the early days, but while governmental control might seem contradictory to distributed ledger technology, there are potential advantages.  

Love it or hate it, we’re in an arms race. Success will be defined as a country with enough rules to limit damage and potentially provide encouragement to the crypto market.

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Crypto has had its ups and downs but even in the current bear market, some companies are still innovating and growing. With this, companies are looking for top talent to join their team, so how do you stand out from the crowd?

Here at Plexus HQ, we’ve put together the top 5 interviewing tips to help you land your dream job in Crypto and Web3, which include:

• Know the company and product
• Be active and involved in the ecosystem
• Relax and be yourself
• Be prepared, come prepared
• Know their competition

Let’s dive in.

Know the company and product

It may sound obvious but before you even hit the ‘Join Now’ button for your online interview, make sure you know who you’re interviewing with.

And by that, we don’t just mean knowing the name of the person who’s interviewing you. We mean in-depth research about the company, their product offering and the space they operate in.

So, what are the key things to research for an interview?

Our advice would be to find out more about the following:

• How are they positioning themselves in the market? What makes them different?
• What are the company’s values, and how do they talk about themselves?
• What’s the latest news about the company? Have they recently received funding, new team hires, recent launches?
• What does the product do? How are they helping their customers? What’s the use case for their product?

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Be active and involved in the ecosystem

As Web3 and crypto becomes more popular and ‘mainstream’, it’s one thing to be interested in it and another to be actively involved in the ecosystem of your choosing.

If you’re serious about a job in Web3, particularly if you’re wanting to transition from Web2, then our biggest advice to you would be:

Get Involved!

Find your niche and interest in the ecosystem. Understand it. Be involved in the community. Show your interest so the company knows you’re serious about what they’re trying to achieve in the space.

Relax and be yourself!

There is a lot of excitement and hype when it comes to Web3, Crypto and Blockchain. Although it’s been around for a few years now, the space is still relatively young – meaning there is a lot of opportunity and scope to grow.

You’ll likely find that many of the Founders, CEO’s and CTO’s don’t fit your typical stereotype (think older person in their 50’s wearing a suit). Instead, you’ll find a younger generation leading the charge, creating a much more relaxed culture.

Being adaptable and collaborative are all key things our clients look for but above all, just be yourself.

Be prepared, come prepared

As is standard in most interviews, companies may set a practical assignment that will assess your technical abilities and knowledge.

Be prepared for it! Companies will give you plenty of time to do your assignment, use that time wisely to get your presentation together. This is a competitive space, so you’ll want to stand out from other candidates that are also in the running.

Whether it’s technical, product focused or design-orientated; don’t forget to reflect their branding or best practices by including their brand colours and adopting their language.

Know their competition

Similar to our first point, make sure you do your research on the company’s competitors. Who are they? What are they doing?

In the interview, clarify how can you help them ‘outdo’ their competitors.

Our final tip: Web3 and crypto are heavily influenced by trends and are extremely fast-paced environments, so keep an eye on the top companies in the space, how they’re evolving and how that will likely influence other brands.

Key Takeaway

Some of the above points may not come as a surprise to you but they are fundamental, valuable tips that sometimes get forgotten when interviewing.

But most importantly:

If you want to work in Web3, Crypto or Blockchain, get involved – this will give you a huge advantage in the long run.

Want to know what roles are available? Speak to a consultant about our open roles.