PORTLAND, Oregon – Hiring in crypto is not hotting up as fast as the recent rally the space has seen on expectations of an imminent approval of a US exchange-traded fund investing directly into Bitcoin.

Crypto job postings on LinkedIn declined 57 per cent year on year in December, less than the 71 per cent drop in November, according to the professional networking site.

Between November and the end of 2023, Bitcoin’s price rose 57 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At jobs board CryptocurrencyJobs.co, which charges for job posts, December was one of the best months of 2023 in revenue, said Mr Daniel Adler, the website’s founder.

For much of 2023, layoffs abounded, with companies like Gemini Trust and Binance.US shedding staff amid a regulatory crackdown. Months of low trading volumes impacted crypto exchanges’ revenues.

Venture capital investments remained sharply down, and many start-ups ended up laying off workers or not hiring additional staff for lack of funds. However, the prolonged price rallies do typically tend to translate into more funding for start-ups and increased hiring down the road. Bitcoin’s price had more than doubled in 2023.

“A few teams may have opened up new roles, but I also think it’s teams using up their hiring budgets to pre-buy job packs and so on,” Mr Adler said. “There seems to be more optimism in the space. I think things will become more clear in the next few weeks.”

Already, the biggest crypto exchange in the United States, Coinbase Global, lists more than 70 open positions on its website, while Gemini lists 60. With coin prices rallying in recent months, crypto exchanges have seen a recovery in their trading volumes, which are tied to their revenues.

But much of the recovery hinges on whether the price rally continues – and whether exchange-traded funds investing directly into Bitcoin are approved in the US. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to decide on the future of the funds within days. BLOOMBERG