If you are interested in working in the growing field of digital currencies or you’re a financial technology startup looking for new talent, the Sunnyvale Job Fair at the Plug and Play Tech Centre is the place to be this weekend.
This will be the fourth edition of the Bitcoin Job Fair, building on the success the event has had in Sunnyvale, New York, and Los Angeles.
It’s all happening in the auditorium of the Plug and Play Tech Centre in Sunnyvale, California starting Thursday, April 16 and ending Saturday evening, April 18. A number of top Bitcoin startups including BitGo, BitPay, BlockCypher, ChangeTip, and ShapeShift will be there to connect with job seekers.
Bitcoin Businesses step up to the plate
Some of the biggest names in the digital currencies world have stepped forward to sponsor this event, a sure sign of the growing maturity of the Bitcoin community.
There’s lots of buzz around the lead sponsor, secretive startup 21 Inc., which joins companies like BitPay, BitGo, ChangeTip, ShapeShift, FreshPay, CoinBeyond and Bitwage.
Although the exact nature of its business is not public, 21 Inc. was recently reported to have raised $116m in venture funding, the most ever raised in the digital currency space. Backers include Qualcomm, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz.
The Plug and Play Tech Centre and Coinality, an online job board for the Bitcoin industry, are producing the fair. Coinality Founder and CEO Dan Roseman is being cautious about the turnout but thinks there’s a much broader range of skill sets in demand now that Bitcoin startups have matured.
“Bitcoin is creating new career opportunities in the tech sector as venture capital continues to accelerate growth among bitcoin startups. A couple of years ago, most bitcoin careers required an advanced technical skill set. However, today we are seeing more demand for a broader range of skill sets (administrative, creative, marketing, legal/regulation, etc.) as bitcoin startups begin to mature beyond a Minimal Viable Product. “
BitHack Included
In addition to the Job Fair, the event will also feature a hackathon sponsored by ChangeTip, BitGo and ShapeShift, and organized by the College Crypto Network. The 72-hour bithack is designed to showcase new talent as companies look to more sophisticated program development.
Participants in the BitHack will have their choice of 4 3PIs to build on top of, including ChangeTip, ShapeShift and BitGo.
Victoria van Eyk, VP Community Development with ChangeTip, will be there and welcomes the opportunity to reach out to the community: “Job fairs and hackathons like this are a great opportunity for people to congregate, get acquainted, and create value together – both immediate and long term. We are really excited to meet everyone and see what people are up to, find great talent and see what people use our API for.”
Wall Street Journal’s Mike Casey and Paul Vigna will take your questions
Wall Street Journal reporters Mike Casey and Paul Vigna have been keeping Wall Street and us up-to-date on the evolving world of digital currencies and recently published The Age of Cryptocurrency. They will be answering your questions Saturday evening at a Q&A panel held in the Plug and Play Tech Centre.
As Coinality’s Dan Roseman noted: “Most of the hype around bitcoin is around merchant adoption, with little attention given to job creation. Coinality believes that the bitcoin job market is one of the most important indicators of the technology’s success. We are encouraged by the steady growth in the bitcoin job market and are pleased to work with Plug And Play to host Bitcoin Job Fairs as a way of connecting bitcoin startups with the talent they need to succeed.”
Plug and Play is a global startup accelerator that specializes in growing tech startups. Plug and Play’s international network includes 300+ tech startups, 180+ investors and a community of leading universities and corporate partners. The first Sunnyvale job fair in May 2014 featured 34 startups including BitPay, Circle, Xapo, and Kraken and over 400 job seekers. Admission to the job fair is free for job seekers.
