Thread by @zorkary

1/ H1 crypto hiring was wild.

Macro rocked the market, record jobs were pulled, and companies reacted faster & harder than at any point in 3 years.

👇 From market data + 1000s of convos: what candidates want & what downturns teach us (...because it ain’t always a bull market).

2/ Remember: Even in rough macro, crypto’s fundamentals are stronger than ever.

Those fundamentals were on full display at the start of the year.

3/ January 2025: Crypto hiring was ripping.

• +60% jobs vs Dec (301 new roles)
• Sales/BD +75% H1 YoY — chasing the bull cycle
• Candidate energy was at full tilt

4/ Come February, one macro headline killed the party.

Early tariffs →
• Applications -60% MoM
• Site traffic -46%

Candidate risk appetite evaporated overnight.

5/ Then, March brought the cull.

• 750 roles cut (+132% MoM, record high). Massive

• Even with 411 new jobs posted, net growth went negative

...The biggest single-month correction we’ve ever seen, by far.

6/ But here’s the twist: Candidates came back before companies did, while many teams hadn’t broadly reopened roles yet.

Also by March:

• Applications +84%
• Traffic +43%

7/ Market pricing shows it clearly:

• Prices tanked in Feb (~-30% composite) and applications fell -60% instantly

• With April’s rebound (+11%), applicants surged +102% MoM while postings lagged, suggesting net hiring stayed negative through Q2

8/ That 4-6 week lag is the window few use.

Smart teams planned headcount and stuck to it. They weren’t overly fearful or reactive, and they won through the rift.

By mid-year, things looked to be stabilizing, overall.

9/ Ultimately, H1 analysis revealed 3 key signals:

1️⃣ Market moved first, companies cut hard
2️⃣ Talent revived ~4-6 weeks later
3️⃣ Companies recovered last

If you wait for #3, you’ve already lost the best candidates.

10/ Roles that generally stay steady:

• Engineering +17% H1 YoY (+21% Q4→Q1, -9% Q1→Q2)
• Data Science +107% (+43% Q4→Q1, -3% Q1→Q2)

Even when sentiment shifts, these markets hold demand across cycles — always competitive, bull or bear.

11/ Roles that whiplash with the market:

• Sales/BD +75% H1 YoY (+19% → -24%)
• Customer Service +60% (+43% → -29%)
• Marketing +4% (+38% → -22%)

Surged in Q1 then pulled back hard in Q2, showing GTM chasing market cycles.

12/ What candidates actually want:

• 60-70% favor infra for perceived equity upside

• Stablecoins, MEV-aware infra, RWAs = “DeFi 2.0”

• AI×Crypto hype cooled — demand is now for crypto-native AI use cases

13/ It’s not just the perks that win:

• Remote is default, but 25% now probe how it’s run

• Liquidity & comp diligence up to 38%, asked earlier

• 43% judge company quality by interviewer quality

14/ Geo trends:

• NYC = GTM/BD hotspot (40%+ of commercial talent)

• NYC candidates talk stablecoins/payments more regularly

• ZK talent: Berlin, Lisbon, Eastern Europe (mentions 1.4x NYC)

15/ Late-Q3 rebound looks plausible:

• Planning windows line up

• GENIUS Act passed in June (law in July)

• Compliance/legal being staffed earlier than past cycles

Signs of a maturing hiring rhythm.

16/ Also, the market’s looking a little different now, yeah?

If you’re hiring in Q4, your advantage starts now. A deeper H1 report with an actionable H2 playbook is available to the Dragonfly portfolio.

Buckle up. :)

... Also, special thanks to the rest of the Dragonfly talent team — @chris_ahsing, @Rodairos, and @cjwilsonsr — for their hard work and contributions to this report and beyond