from Hacker News

How to Become a Blockchain Engineer?

by bihan on 9/22/22, 3:21 AM with 25 comments

Web3 is very interesting. Avg. BE makes about $160k, is it worth to get into web3 now. If so what's the best way?

  • by yazzku on 9/22/22, 3:42 AM

    1. Rewrite everything in Go or Rust for the sake of it. 2. Pretend AWS and DNS do not exist and that the web is decentralized. 3. Read blockchain. Lots of it. Write about it more than you read about it. 4. Success. Let the big bucks rain on you.

    But seriously, are you considering getting into this just for the bucks? I'd suggest you check out what Moxie and other respectable folks have to say about this first, e.g:

    https://moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-first-impressions.html

    You can read about many more fiascos online. I think there are a million more interesting things to get into. The nice thing about recessions is that it cuts out much of the BS, and we've already seen quite a few of these startups go down for good.

  • by hcks on 9/22/22, 8:01 AM

    In the true spirit of Web3 you can simply do the Ethereum tutorial, "read" some whitepapers (they aren't meant to be though about deeply anyway) and start adverstising yourself as a blockchain expert.

    Don't overthink it, the people you'll work with are already grifters themselves.

  • by yieldcrv on 9/22/22, 4:22 AM

    Determine what part of the stack you want to be on

    Most projects are smart contracts, so thats Solidity and browser frontends like React

    whereas in the Solana ecosystem both the node software and the smart contracts are written in Rust

    amongst smart contracts there are about a dozen sectors:

    Lending

    Staking

    Insurance

    Options

    Futures

    AMMs

    Optimizers

    All the way over to NFTs

    Within NFTs there are about 5 distinct sectors too, with the most action and capital occurring in the NFT collections space, followed by NFT marketplaces

    and then after all that there are Web 2.0 style SaaS companies that provide services to web 3 customers for subscription fees. thats probably the most boring because they cant juice your compensation with tokens or publicly traded shares.

    so pick your sector first.

  • by danwee on 9/22/22, 7:49 AM

    I don't get it. Developers in USA do make already around $160K, isn't it?

  • by fedecaccia on 9/22/22, 12:28 PM

    I started my path as BE 5 years ago and now I run a blockchain company.

    My strategy was: 1 - learn just the basics on each vertical (bitcoin, EVM, smart contracts, consensus protocols, game theory) - it wasn't difficult having a background as engineer 2 - get a job as PM/PO to be in touch with as many projects as I can 3 - get a deep understanding of the market needs 4 - start working as low level developer on a particular (selected) project, to understand the core and become an expert 5 - manage my own team to sell services (outsourcing) to other entrepreneurs 6 - scale num.5

    I share with you a doc I wrote a time ago, describing the roadmap I propose to learn the basics: https://medium.com/rather-labs/the-roadmap-to-become-a-block...

    Also, if you want to check my company, you can do it at ratherlabs.com

    I wish you the best on this exciting path!

  • by preseinger on 9/22/22, 5:07 AM

    Stuff you learn in "web2" translates to web3, but the opposite is not true: the tolerance for risk and failure in the crypto space is just so much higher than anywhere else, that engineers who learn in that environment never really have a chance to develop the baseline technical skill expected by any other part of industry.

    It's really a tragedy that the pump-and-dump web3 space is siphoning off so many entry-level programmers. When the music stops, it's going to be a lot of work for those people to transition elsewhere.

  • by giaour on 9/22/22, 2:53 PM

    This is a fairly jaded take, but my impression is that "blockchain engineers" often expect to be able to work pseudonymously, which implies that credentials and reputation are not as important as in other business domains. One consequence of this is that it's probably easier to break into the field if you perform well in an interview; another consequence is rampant insider fraud.

  • by mkw2000 on 9/22/22, 4:45 AM

    https://buildspace.so/ is a great learning resource

  • by byoung2 on 9/22/22, 3:28 AM

    Build something new and exciting using blockchain and web3

  • by smt88 on 9/22/22, 4:29 AM

    > Avg. BE makes about $160k, is it worth to get into web3 now

    That number is probably old, before the crypto bloodbath of the last few months.

  • by quickthrower2 on 9/22/22, 6:17 AM

    Find the job that doesn’t need web3 experience to join. They do exist.

  • by exolymph on 9/22/22, 4:05 AM

    Get involved with a DAO and learn by starting with the smallest tasks.

  • by obayesshelton on 9/22/22, 9:57 AM

    What are you doing right now? Sounds like you are chasing money.

  • by dev_0 on 9/22/22, 4:54 PM

    Blockchain engineers don't care about users or hackers

  • by rocket_surgeron on 9/22/22, 5:40 PM

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