Talent exodus: Are blockchain entrepreneurs moving to Dubai, other crypto-friendly nations?
Earlier this year, there was much speculation that Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, the co-founders of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, had moved to Dubai with their families. While the company said it was an external organization still headquartered in Mumbai and Bengaluru, the rumors indicate a growing trend among developers and those in the Web 3.0 ecosystem.
Brighter horizons
According to media reports, at least 30 to 50 leading crypto entrepreneurs have moved their businesses to Dubai and other crypto-friendly jurisdictions. Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO, CoinDCX, recently tweeted that he has “personally seen extremely talented people who could have helped take the crypto industry in India to new levels moving out of the country or shying away from entering this industry due to lack of positive support from the government”.
Entrepreneurs and crypto talent have moved outside India since the blanket ban in 2018, particularly to places like the US, UK, Dubai and Singapore, said Shivam Thakral, CEO of homegrown crypto exchange BuyUcoin. “Higher pay is a big attraction especially for talented people working on the technology side of things in blockchain and crypto,” he says.
However, Sricharan C, head of human resources at WazirX, says it is too early to predict whether there is a brain drain. “India has always provided IT talent to the world. As the world realizes this, we have international companies making inroads into the Indian market because of the huge talent pool,” he says, adding that high demand for Indian developers from foreign companies can trigger job growth for the entire ecosystem.
“The Indian market has some fundamental competitive advantages – a very large addressable market and a large number of well-trained engineers,” says Leon Foong, head of APAC at Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. “If the right blockchain entrepreneurs can be matched with talent and capital, we believe we will see an acceleration in the number of crypto and web3 projects built out of India.”
The entry of international players like Coinbase also signifies the growing maturity of the Indian crypto market and gives confidence to gatekeeper talent, said Geetika Mehta, Head of Human Resources, ZebPay. “The war for talent is going to heat up and everyone has to up their game,” she says.
Will the new tax rules affect employment? Companies say some talent may be wary of entering the industry, but that’s a temporary result. “There could be a transitory effect as the market adjusts to the new tax regime,” says Sricharan. “But when we have gained more clarity in the regulations, the talent will pick up.”
Building a talent stream
But given how nascent the industry is, where does this talent come from? “In the early days of our company (2016-17), blockchain and crypto talent was harder to find, so we sought help from our network of crypto enthusiasts,” says Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, a homegrown crypto exchange. “When crypto took off (but) we were able to find great talent through LinkedIn, Naukri and the like.”
Knowledge of fintech and crypto is a plus when hiring, but it depends on the job role, say industry experts. For example, a bachelor/master in technology would be sufficient for a software development role. “While qualifications are important, we place more emphasis on skill set and often look for a right combination of both,” says Mehta. “Knowledge of blockchain and crypto basics always helps.”
“We tend to synergize with people who have the enthusiasm and insight to work in a startup environment,” says Thakral.
