As cryptos cut back, banks in Singapore seek blockchain skills
As crypto firms cut roles and rescind job offers, banks in Singapore are launching and hiring for crypto and blockchain-based projects.
It’s not just sales roles that these firms are recruiting. In the last one month, OCBC has posted job ads looking for a blockchain engineer and a blockchain architect to join its group operations and technology division.
Candidates for both positions are expected to “possess experience in smart contract development and an understanding of cryptography”. They will also be responsible for designing, implementing, enhancing and supporting smart contracts for business applications hosted on the bank’s own blockchain network.
Among the specific technical skills that the blockchain engineer is required to have include advanced proficiency in Solidity and Truffle or Hardhat, experience supporting DApps (decentralised applications) in a mainnet or production environment, and familiarity with container platforms such as Kubernetes or Openshift.
Meanwhile, the blockchain architect would ideally be someone with an in-depth knowledge of and working experience with Ethereum, Corda or Hyperledger Fabric in an enterprise setting, as well as experience with cloud native platforms like Kubernetes or OpenShift and Pivotal Cloud.
Elsewhere, UOB Venture Management has also been on the lookout for roles requiring some experience with blockchain. Potential employees will have to support the investment activities of a blockchain investment fund that include blockchain infrastructure innovation and asset tokenisation platforms.
DBS’s Digital Exchange, which launched in December 2020, is also in the midst of recruiting for operational roles in crypto and blockchain across various functions, including customer service, data analysis and user interface design.
Singapore’s largest bank recently embarked on a new digital asset pilot programme with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), JPMorgan and Marketnode. The initiative, called Project Guardian, seeks to “explore the economic potential and value-adding use cases of asset tokenisation”, according to MAS.
The project also hopes to ascertain the effectiveness of running DeFi (decentralised finance) applications on public blockchain networks like Ethereum, among other goals.
Project Guardian’s launch is coming at a time when three of the world’s most prominent crypto exchanges and platforms have pulled out of the country for seemingly less regulated jurisdictions. Binance and ByBit have relocated their headquarters to Dubai, while Crypto.com, which just announced it would be laying off hundreds of staff in Asia, has also indicated plans to follow suit.
It is unclear if a recent JPMorgan opening for a “software engineer, blockchain” posted by its Singapore office has any relation to Project Guardian, but it is the only blockchain-specific role that the US bank is recruiting for right now. JPMorgan launched its own blockchain-powered platform, Onyx, in October 2020.
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