Coin Market

Blockchain needs regulation, scalability to close AI hiring gap

Published

4 weeks ago

April 25, 2025

The emerging blockchain industry lags behind the artificial intelligence sector in terms of job creation, but this hiring gap may narrow by 2030.

Blockchain remains one of the smallest sectors in the tech industry, with over 300,000 global jobs, compared to more than 1.5 million in AI and machine learning and 25 million in software development, according to a new Bitget Research report shared with Cointelegraph.

The blockchain sector added around 20,000 new jobs in 2024, according to job listings aggregated from platforms like LinkedIn, Web3 Jobs and Crypto Job List.

Total workforce in tech industry. Source: Bitget Research

While blockchain-based jobs had an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45%, outpacing most traditional tech sectors, it trails the AI industry’s 57% CAGR, according to the report.

The AI industry’s maturity and larger share of venture capital investment are the main reasons behind the hiring discrepancy, Vugar Usi Zade, chief operating officer of Bitget exchange, told Cointelegraph:

“Venture investors put more than $100 billion into AI startups in 2024, with AI-centric titles topping a million vacancies worldwide,” Usi Zade said. “Blockchain companies, meanwhile, advertise barely 20,000 openings and drew only about $5.4 billion in new funding during the same period.”

Regional blockchain market distribution. Source: Bitget Research

Blockchain may generate over 1 million jobs by 2030

AI-related job listings have risen between 75% to 100% year-over-year, while blockchain job growth remains around the 45% to 60% growth range.

Blockchain vs AI job listings growth. Source: Bitget Research

Blockchain could exceed one million jobs by 2030 if it managed to scale at the same rate as AI-based roles, the report predicted.

More regulatory clarity from bills such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) may encourage blockchain firms to increase their hiring efforts, Zade said:

“Europe’s MiCA rule-book, live since December 2024, is already thawing hiring freezes; similar clarity in the United States and Asia would unlock global head-count plans.”

“Second comes enterprise-grade performance: Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade cut typical layer-2 fees by more than 95%, signaling that blockchains can now handle corporate traffic at an acceptable cost,” he added.

While blockchain-based jobs are poised for growth, “AI will naturally garner more talent in the next decade,” Jawad Ashraf, CEO of Vanar Chain, told Cointelegraph.

“This is because AI’s market integration has been faster than any other modern technology we can remember,” he said. “If you look at blockchain, we’re still very much focused on integrating with TradFi and broader Web3 markets like gaming, real-world tokenization, etc.”

“Blockchain still hasn’t penetrated the more conventional consumer-oriented markets. It will, in the near future, but we are not there yet,” he added.

Blockchain and AI are not competing for talent

“AI and blockchain aren’t competing for talent — they’re working together to create new opportunities,” Yakov Lebedev, chief business development officer at 3Commas, a trading automation solution, told Cointelegraph.

Combining the two technologies enables “sophisticated financial tools accessible for everyone, not just big institutions, he said, adding:

“Companies are paying top dollar for professionals who understand both AI and blockchain, recognizing the value of this cross-domain expertise.”

Lebedev added that the integration of blockchain with AI is driving steady job growth in both fields, as financial and tech firms move integrated solutions from pilot programs into core operations.

Thanks to the synergistic benefits of the two technologies, blockchain job growth may start mirroring the AI industry’s, according to Adi Ben-Ari, founder and CEO at Applied Blockchain, an AI-powered blockchain development firm.

AI technology is “probabilistic and introduces uncertainty,” which creates more demand for blockchain and cryptographic technologies, he told Cointelegraph.

“AI produces outcomes that are not always accurate, can be fake, and can sometimes be incorrect,” he said. “This new uncertainty needs to be countered by a technology that brings absolute certainty, and this is where blockchain and cryptography come in.”

Ben-Ari added that blockchain’s ability to secure sensitive information through cryptography would become increasingly important as AI consumes larger amounts of personal data.

LUNA payments to STIX protocol. Source: Basescan

AI agents are already using cryptocurrency for autonomous transactions. On Dec. 16, 2024, Luna, an AI agent on Virtuals Protocol, paid another AI agent from STIX Protocol, in exchange for its image generation services — sending $1.77 worth of Virtual (VIRTUAL) tokens, onchain data shows.

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Coin Market

Bitcoin price drops 4% as Trump EU tariff talk liquidates over $300M

Published

37 minutes ago

May 23, 2025

Key points:

Bitcoin joins risk assets in a knee-jerk reaction to the latest instalment of the US trade war, this time focused on the EU.

BTC price action dives up to 4% before recovering with $110,000 now a resistance level.

Traders demand that price holds higher levels going forward to protect bullish momentum.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw flash volatility into the May 23 Wall Street open as news headlines liquidated longs.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin trips as Trump says EU talks “going nowhere”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $107,367 on Bitstamp before rebounding.

This marked daily losses of up to 4% as markets reacted to comments from US President Donald Trump over tariffs on the European Union.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”Source: Truth Social

US stocks reacted immediately at the open, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index down 1% and 1.2%, respectively, at the time of writing.

Reflecting on the latest developments, crypto market participants were unsurprised, given the existing precedent for tariff-related volatility.

“Nice aggregate flush of long leverage & de-risk selling from spot,” popular trader Skew summarized in a post on X.

“All driven by headlines once again.”Binance Bitcoin futures market data overview. Source: Skew/X

Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass put 4-hour liquidations at nearly $350 million, with the 24-hour tally at over $500 million.

Total crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

“There’s the break from the compression with a push from Trump. Markets worldwide obviously not liking the news,” fellow trader Daan Crypto Trades continued.

“Will have to see where this settles today and how BTC ends up performing relative to equities now the trade uncertainty is back.”BTC/USDT 15-minute chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

Commenting on the macro outlook, trading resource The Kobeissi Letter suggested that the Trump administration was caught between a rock and a hard place.

“We have now learned: Too much tariff pressure causes the basis trade to unwind. Too little tariff pressure causes inflation expectations to rise,” it wrote in part of an X response.

“Now, President Trump must find a middle ground to maintain tariffs but also suppress treasury yields WITHOUT Fed cuts.”

Kobeissi referred to the Federal Reserve’s unwillingness to hasted interest rate cuts despite declining inflation — a key ingredient in further risk-asset upside.

Elsewhere, traders eyed key BTC price levels to preserve going forward as the market sought a rebound.

“We need to hold the green zone,” trader Crypto Caesar argued alongside a chart showing an area of interest immediately below $110,000.

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Crypto Caesar/X

Another trader, Poseidon, acknowledged the comparative lack of resistance above spot price, keeping the door open to easy upside.

Don’t forget: above here, it’s nothing but thin air. No resistance in sight.$BTC pic.twitter.com/ugQEGQIcpD

— Poseidon (@CryptoPoseidonn) May 23, 2025

“Front ran $110K tag,” Skew continued alongside a chart of order book liquidity concentrations.

“Important level from here for the market to auction above (key for continuation).”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Coin Market

Alchemy acquires no-code NFT launchpad HeyMint for undisclosed amount

Published

37 minutes ago

May 23, 2025

Web3 developer platform Alchemy has acquired HeyMint, a California-based non-fungible token (NFT) launchpad, in a move designed to enhance the company’s smart wallet infrastructure.

The undisclosed funding deal will see HeyMint’s infrastructure embedded within Alchemy as it seeks to simplify user onboarding for Web3 applications, the company disclosed on May 23. HeyMint’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Flor Ronsmans De Vry, joins Alchemy as part of the deal.

While not a household name in crypto, HeyMint attracted more than 1 million users over its first two years of operations. It was the launchpad behind $38 million in NFT sales and supported the Web3 efforts of major brands, including The Sandbox, Universal Music Group and Ubisoft.

In 2023, HeyMint facilitated NFT sales for the Partnership for Central America, a private sector coalition that included Mastercard.

The HeyMint acquisition is Alchemy’s second funding deal this month. The company recently acquired Dexter Lab, a real-time data infrastructure provider for Solana, for an undisclosed amount.

Source: Cointelegraph

Crypto mergers, acquisitions are heating up

2025 is shaping up to be a more active year for crypto mergers and acquisitions (M&As), especially in the United States, where regulatory clarity and a pro-industry administration are encouraging dealmaking.

There has been a flurry of high-profile deals in recent weeks, including Robinhood’s acquisition of Canadian digital asset operator WonderFi for $179 million and Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his crypto exchange is eyeing more M&A opportunities.

One of the biggest acquisitions was completed in April when Ripple purchased prime brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion — a deal the payments company said would expand its horizons within institutional finance.

Beyond M&As, crypto venture capital funding has also been on the rise. PitchBook data revealed that, while the number of deals declined last quarter, the value of investments more than doubled compared to a year earlier.

A highlight of crypto-backed venture deals in 2024. Source: Pitchbook

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Coin Market

US DOJ seizes $24M in crypto from accused Qakbot malware developer

Published

2 hours ago

May 23, 2025

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize more than $24 million in cryptocurrency from Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, a Russian national accused of developing the Qakbot malware.

According to a May 22 announcement, the DOJ unsealed charges against the 48-year-old Moscovite with a federal indictment. Gallyamov is allegedly the malware developer behind the Qakbot botnet.

“Today’s announcement of the Justice Department’s latest actions to counter the Qakbot malware scheme sends a clear message to the cybercrime community,” said Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s criminal division.

Screenshot of the indictment. Source: US Department of Justice

Galeotti highlighted that the DOJ is “determined to hold cybercriminals accountable.” He added that the department will “use every legal tool” to “identify you, charge you, forfeit your ill-gotten gains, and disrupt your criminal activity.”

Over $24 million forfeited

US Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California explained that “the criminal charges and forfeiture case announced today are part of an ongoing effort” to “identify, disrupt, and hold accountable cybercriminals.” He added:

“The forfeiture action against more than $24 million in virtual assets also demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to seizing ill-gotten assets from criminals in order to ultimately compensate victims.”

Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office said that Qakbot was crippled by the agency and its partners in 2023. Still, Gallyamov allegedly continued deploying alternative methods to offer his malware to potential partners.

Qakbot used in global ransomware attacks

Gallyamov allegedly operated the Qakbot malware as far back as 2008. In 2019, he allegedly used it to infect thousands of victim computers to establish a so-called botnet.

Access to computers that were part of the botnet was sold to others who infected them with ransomware, including Prolock, Dopplepaymer, Egregor, REvil, Conti, Name Locker, Black Bast and Cactus. In 2023, a US-led international operation disrupted the Qakbot botnet and malware.

At the time, over 170 Bitcoin (BTC) and over $4 million in USDt (USDT) and USDC (USDC) stablecoins were seized from Gallyamov. According to the indictment, he and his collaborators continued the activity after it was disrupted, adopting new techniques, including directly deploying Black Basta and Cactus ransomware.

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