Singapore remains poised to see continued growth in the blockchain and digital assets space in the coming year. Investments in Singapore Fintech have hit a 5-year high of US$3.9B in 2021, with digital asset and blockchain startups accounting for US$1.5B over 82 deals in 2021, a surge from US$109.8M in 2020.

Such growth does come at a small price for blockchain startups and companies globally, with most companies now finding themselves battling for the brightest blockchain talents in the industry. Even amidst news of layoffs and hiring freezes within the industry, the competition to attract talent remains fierce. Companies are still actively hiring across a wide range of roles and locations, and at the time of writing, there are over 10 vacancies at StraitsX.

Meanwhile, minimum requirements for candidates to join the blockchain industry continue to increase. Having basic functional knowledge for a role is no longer sufficient and candidates must keep abreast with technology knowledge and understand nuances that are specific to the blockchain industry.

Understanding the blockchain’s purpose and long-term impacts are crucial for candidates that are looking to contribute to the growth of the digital assets ecosystem. For example, a candidate looking to score a position as a blockchain developer may be required to learn a new programming language and a prospective candidate on the legal team may be required to understand how blockchain technology and digital assets function in order to better interpret and navigate regulations.

Forward-looking regulations and infrastructure developments have allowed Singapore to position itself as one of the most established and well-recognised financial hubs in the world. Singapore’s regulations towards the digital assets space remain forward-looking. Many companies in this sector strive to take on an active role in shaping the industry through memberships with industry organisations such as the Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Enterprises and Start-ups Singapore (ACCESS), Blockchain Association of Singapore (BAS), and the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA).

In addition, Singapore’s focus on talent development by providing related training programmes has allowed the nurturing of a future tech talent pool and allowed its current workforce to upskill and reskill themselves to meet the ever-changing technological needs of the fintech industry. This benefits fast growing technological companies such as StraitsX by meeting the demand for the talents required to drive innovation and growth.

At StraitsX, we are constantly looking for talents who share our vision that stablecoins and digital assets can evolve beyond crypto-trading and shape the future of money. With stablecoins and blockchain technology, we hope to now be able to tackle complex issues such as cross-border transactions and financial inclusion.

StraitsX remains optimistic that a sustainable shift towards a digital economy is near. A combination of forward-looking regulations, combined with a substantial and growing talent pool is key to enabling more breakthroughs in this industry.

Aymeric Salley, Head of StraitsX, has responsibilities for Southeast Asia.