One of our POW Lab members recently shared their career priorities:

1. Full-time Bitcoin job

2. Part-time fiat job plus Bitcoin advisory or freelance work

3. Full-time fiat job - but only if it’s highly aligned and very well paid

Reading that list, I found myself nodding along.

Most Bitcoiners I know have some version of the same goal. They want their work and their values to align. They want to spend their time building, teaching, supporting, or contributing to the future they believe in.

But there is a reality we don’t talk about often enough.

While many people want to work in Bitcoin, the harsh truth is that you often have to be able to afford to work in Bitcoin first.

A huge amount of Bitcoin contribution is financially subsidized by the contributors themselves:

People organize meetups for free. They create educational content for free. They travel to conferences and speak there for free. Some even contribute skills, labor, design work, testing, or operational support to Bitcoin projects without financial compensation.

We are running Bitvocation for free. The little money we make doesn’t even cover costs.

A lot of the work in Bitcoin is fueled by passion - and by income that comes from somewhere else. Sometimes that income comes from mining fiat.

That’s the reality. And I think we need to talk about it more honestly.

There can be a strange sense of shame in Bitcoin circles around fiat work. As if taking a fiat job means you’ve failed. As if earning money through traditional systems somehow weakens your conviction or makes you less serious about Bitcoin. As if every hour spent outside Bitcoin is somehow time wasted.

I know it can feel that way. And of course many of us aspire to spend 100% of our energy on Bitcoin. But we all still live in the fiat world.

Landlords want fiat. Taxes are paid in fiat. Groceries are still purchased through fiat rails. Most of us still earn at least some of our income through fiat systems.

Let’s not pretend otherwise.

Bitcoiners talk a lot about freedom, but freedom requires sustainability. Especially in a volatile and still very early industry. If you cannot sustain yourself financially, emotionally, or physically, you will lose the ability to contribute at all. To Bitcoin adoption. To your family. To your own future.

There is no shame in earning fiat income if that income extends your runway and allows you to continue building the world you actually want to live in.

In fact, that may be the most strategic thing you can do.

Too many people think the choice is binary: either you work in Bitcoin or you sell out and work in fiat. Reality is much messier than that.

Sometimes the highest-leverage move is taking a well-paid fiat role that funds your sovereignty, protects your savings, reduces your stress, and buys you another few years to keep building and stacking sats.

• A good fiat job can fund your Bitcoin education.

• A good fiat job can fund your startup.

• A good fiat job can fund your contribution to open-source projects.

• A good fiat job can give you the breathing room to be patient instead of desperate.

We should not reject useful tools simply because they originate from the existing system.

Most of us still collect energy through fiat rails. Salaries. Clients. Businesses. Investments. Until hyperbitcoinization arrives, the goal is not purity, but sustainability.

You do not need to prove your conviction by rejecting fiat opportunities.

If a good fiat job helps you support your family, stack sats, reduce stress, and continue contributing to Bitcoin for years to come, that is not failure. That’s strategy.

The more runway you have, the longer you can contribute.

And the longer Bitcoiners can contribute, the sooner we’ll build the world we’re trying to create.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

PS: Join us in the POW Lab, if you want to discuss these topics with other Bitcoin career builders!

If you’ve been considering the POW Lab, you’re probably asking a simple question:

What actually happens after I join?

Do you get a course? A community? Coaching? Job opportunities?

The answer is yes - but more importantly, you get a resource system designed around a single goal:

Helping opportunities find YOU.

Because most Bitcoiners don’t struggle because they’re unqualified. They struggle because they’re invisible.

This article will walk you through exactly what happens after you join.

Day 1: You’re In. Here’s What’s Waiting for You.

The moment your membership is confirmed, you get immediate access to the dashboard - a quick welcome from Anja - as well as several core resources:

1 - The 21 Days of Findability

These are practical, step-by-step lessons designed to help you become more visible to Bitcoin founders, recruiters, and hiring managers.

You receive everything at once. No drip schedule. No mandatory order. No course completion badges.

You can work through it in a weekend, tackle one lesson per week, or even ask your AI to guide you through it over time. The structure is flexible. The goal is not.

The goal is to help you become easier to find.

2 - The LinkedIn for Bitcoiners Guide

This is Anja’s personal playbook for building visibility on the platform where recruiters still look first.

It’s not generic LinkedIn advice. It’s specifically written for people trying to build a career in Bitcoin. (This guide is also available as a standalone product, but we much prefer getting to know you in the POW Lab :))

You’ll also receive an invitation to the private POW Lab Telegram group.

The Telegram Group: Where Momentum Happens

The group currently has just under 50 members from around the world.

Data analysts, writers, BizDev professionals, QA specialists, customer support experts, project managers, developers, marketers, and more. All building careers in Bitcoin.

This is where members share ideas, ask questions, exchange opportunities, and help each other stay visible.

• Found a job listing but aren’t sure how to approach it? Ask.

• Want feedback on a LinkedIn post, or simply some likes and comments? Share it.

• Trying to work through a Findability lesson? Post your progress.

• Something went well? Celebrate it.

• Something didn’t? Get support.

One of the hidden benefits of the group is that you’ll often learn from questions you didn’t even know to ask. Someone else raises a challenge, Anja or another member responds, and suddenly you’ve learned something valuable without having to stumble into the problem yourself.

Sometimes the group is quiet. That’s fine. The POW Lab isn’t designed to be another feed competing for your attention. It’s a resource. A place that’s there when you need it.

And yes - Anja is in the group every day. She reads. She responds. She pays attention.

Your First Move: Introduce Yourself

One of the first things you’ll want to do is post your introduction. There’s a dedicated channel for it.

Tell people who you are, what’s your background, and what kind of opportunities you’re looking for.

When you introduce yourself, you stop being a stranger. It becomes easier for others to support you, connect you with opportunities, and remember what you’re working towards. Think of it as your handshake with the community.

And while you’re there, scroll through previous introductions. It’s one of the fastest ways to understand who you’re now building alongside.

The Talent Pool: Getting Found Before You Apply

Every POW Lab member can add themselves to Bitvocation’s talent database by answering 21 questions.

When Bitcoin founders reach out to Anja for a candidate recommendation and she doesn’t immediately have someone in mind, that’s where she looks. The more complete your profile is, the easier it becomes for her to confidently recommend you when the right opportunity appears.

The best opportunities aren’t always the ones you apply for. They’re the ones that find you first.

A Structured Job feed

As part of your membership you will receive access to the web version of our job feed, which doesn’t only have a better UI, but is also more comprehensive, since it includes job listings from both Bitcoin-only as well as Bitcoin-adjacent companies. (In our free Telegram job feed we focus on “signal over noise” and we keep improving it to show only Bitcoin-only companies.)

It’s much more structured; you can search, sort and filter, as well as follow your favorite companies and never miss an opportunity.

Building Proof of Work

One of the biggest challenges for people entering Bitcoin is to show relevant proof of work. The POW Lab helps with that too.

Members can offer services to each other in exchange for sats, or in a value-for-value kind of way.

Think about what you could offer in exchange for a testimonial. A skill you’re developing. A task someone needs done. A problem you can solve.

Provide value. Earn honest feedback. Collect proof that you can deliver. Those testimonials become assets you can point to when opportunities arise.

Want to Go Further? Join the BTX.

The BTX (Bitvocation Talent Exchange) allows members to temporarily join the Bitvocation team and contribute to real projects.

That means real experience. Real responsibility. And your first Bitcoin role on your CV.

This is based on need - sometimes Anja offers BTX positions in the group, and sometimes POW Lab members approach her proactively and propose something. If it comes to a successful collaboration, you’ll receive a testimonial from Anja at the end of it, and she’ll be able to recommend you with far greater confidence because she’ll have seen your work firsthand.

1:1 Support When You Need It

Sometimes a Telegram discussion isn’t enough.

As a POW Lab member, you can book 1:1 sessions with Anja at a discounted rate.

These calls are useful when you’re facing a major decision, considering a career pivot, preparing for an opportunity, or simply want dedicated time with someone who understands the Bitcoin job market.

Every Other Monday: The Member Call

Every other Monday, Miguel hosts a live call for members. No slides. No presentations. No agenda. Just Bitcoiners getting to know each other.

This isn’t an official POW Lab feature. It’s simply Miguel’s way of contributing to the community while he has the time. And interesting things happen when people consistently show up: Two members started a podcast together. Two others launched a Bitcoin education project. None of it was planned.

That’s what happens when people show up, show interest in each other, and stop trying to build alone.

Why you should join NOW

One of the advantages of joining now is that the group is still small enough for personal attention. With currently just under 50 members, we actually expect this number to drop even lower in the short-term, because Bitcoin sentiment is at a 4 year low.

That’s your opportunity to get a lot of attention from Anja in the group. From the interactions in the group, Anja knows who members are. She knows their backgrounds. She knows what they’re working toward.

And when a founder asks if she can recommend someone suitable for a role, she’s naturally thinking about the people she’s been interacting with, observing, and getting to know.

As the group grows, protecting that quality becomes increasingly important and difficult. Our next milestone is 100 members, and depending on the activity in the group, we may cap memberships to preserve the experience.

The Through-Line: Everything Is About Findability

• The 21 Days of Findability.

• The LinkedIn Guide.

• The Telegram group.

• The Talent Pool.

• The Job Feed.

• The BTX.

• The member calls.

• The 1:1 sessions.

Everything inside the POW Lab is built around one question:

Am I visible and connected enough for opportunities to find me?

Not someday.

Now.

While you’re still building. While you’re still in your fiat job. While you’re still figuring things out.

Because in Bitcoin, the people who get opportunities aren’t always the most qualified.

They’re the most visible. The people who consistently show up, build relationships, demonstrate proof of work, and make it easy for the right person to find them at the right time.

That’s what the POW Lab is designed to help you do.

If you’ve been trying to build your Bitcoin career on your own, the POW Lab gives you a roadmap, a network, and a place to build alongside others doing the same.

We’d love to have you!

Learn more and join us now

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

Featured Job Post

BitcoinProof.io makes audit-ready self-custody verification, and they need someone who lives where this matters: Twitter/X, Nostr, Stacker News, the Dutch and German Bitcoin scenes.
Part-time (10–20 hours), fully remote, tiered commissions, paid in Bitcoin. No CV needed to apply, just a short message about your proof of work in Bitcoin and which communities you're part of.

Full job description here

Featured job posts are distributed in our newsletter and Telegram channel. Contact us if you want more visibility for your own job listings.

I was discussing this with one of our POW Lab members.

She is highly competent, deeply aligned with Bitcoin, and exactly the kind of thoughtful, reliable, high-signal person many startups say they want.

But she had read a job description that made her hesitate. She said it sounded “insane.” Almost like the company needed someone to parachute into chaos, carry the entire operation alone, and never ask for support.

I had to read the job description three times. Three times before I could read in between the lines that this could actually be a really enjoyable job, plus a strong fit for her.

So we did a simple exercise. We asked ChatGPT to translate the job description into more balanced language.

Same role. Same standards. Same level of responsibility. Just in a language that resonated better with us.

It completely changed her perspective.

It went from:

“I don’t know if I’m the kind of person they want.”

To:

“Actually, I could do this.”

The job did not become easier. It became clearer.

The hidden filter

Did you know there’s such a thing as “gendered language” in job descriptions?

No, it’s not a new “woke” term. It’s a practical observation.

Some words and phrases tend to carry masculine-coded signals, and some carry feminine-coded signals. It’s understandable - men and women communicate differently, and if the job description is written (or prompted) by a man, it will sound in a way that resonates and makes sense to him. Unless he makes a conscious effort to neutralize the language.

For example, startup job descriptions often use words like:

• Dominate

• Crush

• Rockstar

• Relentless

• Own this end-to-end

• No hand-holding

• High-pressure environment

• Aggressive growth

And they may include phrases like:

• “You thrive under pressure.”

• “You bring a high level of autonomy and accountability.”

• “You execute, not just plan.”

None of this is wrong. But when the entire job description is written in this register, it can unintentionally filter out some high-agency candidates.

Especially women, who may not recognize themselves in the role.

What hiring managers can do

If you write Bitcoin job descriptions, you can of course use this as an intentional filter. If you want to attract only a certain type of person, lean into the language that you believe resonates with them.

But if you want to attract a wider range of high-agency talent, including women, you may need to neutralize the language a bit.

Run the job description through an LLM and ask it to analyze for masculine vs. feminine-coded language. Then rewrite in a more neutral, balanced tone while staying honest and direct.

What women can do

If you are a woman in Bitcoin - or anyone reading a job description with some initial hesitation - translate it! Read it in a language that resonates more with you. Not to fool yourself, but to see the role clearly before rejecting yourself.

Because sometimes the door is more open than the wording makes it sound.

Be intentional about job descriptions

Bitcoin needs builders. It needs people who can write, sell, teach, design, code, support customers, grow communities, manage operations, build partnerships, run events, tell better stories, and make hard things understandable.

It needs ownership. It needs resilience. It needs calm execution in uncertain environments.

Those strengths are not male or female. They are human. They are Bitcoin.

But people arrive at them through different paths, and they may recognize opportunity through different language.

So if you are a hiring manager, be intentional about how you write job descriptions: use or reduce the language filters consciously.

And if you're a Bitcoin career builder and want to discuss this sort of thing in a group of peers, join us in the POW Lab!

Learn about the POW Lab

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

Another chock-full month of Bitcoin events is around the corner, with conferences happening across Europe, the Americas, and Africa. The Bitvocation team will be in Prague, and we hope to run into many of you there.

Have you checked out our shiny new conference overview yet?

Show me all details & ticket discounts!

Business Cards at Bitcoin conferences - Yes or No?

We recently discussed this question in the POW Lab. Because in 2026, with phones always in hand, it’s fair to ask:

Do physical business cards still make sense?

The short answer is yes. But only if they’re done right. Otherwise, they’re expensive little rectangles that end up buried at the bottom of a goodie bag… or quietly thrown away before the event is even over.

Why Most Cards Fail at Bitcoin Events

A generic card with just your name, an obscure company title, and a phone number gets about two seconds of attention. In a room of 10,000+ Bitcoiners scanning for signal, people make fast yes/no decisions: “Is this person relevant to me right now?”

If the card doesn’t immediately answer that, it’s game over. Elegant designs that look expensive can still fall flat if they leave people thinking, “Cool card… but what do you actually do?”

The game has changed. Pure paper is fading; hybrid is winning.

When “Yes” Makes Sense

There are two main scenarios where cards still deliver value:

1. Mass distribution / swag mode
   You’re leaving stacks at booths or tables. Your only goal is to get scanned. The card needs a crystal-clear hook, an easy-to-scan QR code, and a very obvious next step. Simplicity wins.
   

2. Personal hand-off mode
   You’ve just had a real conversation. Now the card becomes a memory anchor. It should include your photo and leave space on the back for a quick handwritten note (“Great chat about mining in Ethopia - let’s continue on Nostr”), and still include that big QR. It turns a fleeting chat into something tangible.
   
   And honestly, that’s what most people are looking for at conferences anyway. Not more contacts, but real connections.

If you’re designing business cards for Bitcoin events this year, treat them less like corporate stationery and more like a tiny sales letter.

Before you print anything, ask yourself:

• Does this immediately tell people why I’m relevant to them?

• Is my value proposition obvious immediately?

• Can they connect with me in under three seconds?

In Bitcoin clarity and utility beat fancy design every time.

The Practical Reality

Many of the best connections at conferences now happen phone-to-phone: add on Nostr, snap a quick selfie, and send a note while the conversation is fresh. A well-designed card complements that flow - it doesn’t replace it.

Bottom line: Bring business cards to Bitcoin conferences if they hook fast, connect instantly, and feel native to the space. If they’re vague or friction-heavy, skip them and just use your phone.

Your card isn’t about looking professional. It’s about making the other person think: “I want to stay in touch with this person.”

If you can’t make it to any events in June but still want to connect with Bitcoiners who are serious about their careers, join us in the POW Lab and let us support you on your journey. No business cards necessary. Only a Telegram handle.

Learn about the POW Lab

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

1:1 Findability Audit Sessions Are Now Available

Bitvocation is all about Findability. It’s what our POW Lab members work on. It’s what we teach during Jobtober.

And yes - it requires a low time preference. But the earlier you start laying the foundation, the sooner you benefit from it.

If group programs aren’t your thing and you’d rather have a focused, uninterrupted deep dive into your personal situation, you can now book a 1:1 session with Anja.

Book Your Findability Audit Now

Now, let’s switch gears.

Findability isn’t just for job seekers - it’s for brands too.

Because if the right people can’t find you, they can’t choose you.

And we know many of you reading this are building in Bitcoin:

Founders, recruiters, teams.

This one’s for you.

Results of a recent sponsorship campaign

At the beginning of the year, we ran a 1-month campaign for an aligned partner.

Here’s what that looked like:

• 4 weekly newsletter placements
• Multiple tweets
• Mentions in our Telegram channel

The result?

• 4,500+ total views
• 400 clicks
• 16 paying customers

That’s:

• 8.9% click-through rate (significantly above typical benchmarks)

• 4% conversion rate from click to customer

For the sponsor, that translated into over 10x return on their investment.

What this shows

Now, we can’t guarantee identical results for every campaign.

But this is what becomes possible when the right offer meets a deeply aligned Bitcoin audience.

Also, not every sponsor is optimizing for direct conversions. Some care more about:

• Brand Visibility
• Authority Positioning
• Lead Generation
• Hiring Visibility
• Long-term Reputation

In those cases, 4,500 highly targeted impressions inside a Bitcoin-native ecosystem are just as valuable.

What “Aligned” Really Means

Our audience is building their lives on a Bitcoin standard.

They want to:

• earn in bitcoin

• spend bitcoin

• secure their bitcoin

• learn about Bitcoin

• build on Bitcoin

If your product, service, or open roles support that - you’re aligned.

If not, we’ll likely pass.

What Sponsorships Look Like

We keep things simple — and intentional.

• One-off shoutouts look like the announcement at the top of this email

• Longer campaigns might be more integrated and woven into the content

Why?

Because we don’t want this newsletter to feel like a billboard. We protect the signal - and that’s exactly why sponsorships here work.

Pricing

• One-off newsletter shoutouts start from 210,000 sats.

• We are also opening up sponsorships for the 2026 edition of Jobtober, which will give you daily visibility for 21 days in October.

Reply to this newsletter or contact us here, if you’re interested in any of those options.

To get an idea on our audience and engagement, here are our numbers of 2025 (from our Annual Report).

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

The Afternoon That Started It All

Some afternoons feel ordinary until you look back and realize they weren’t.

I was sitting on a friend’s patio reading while he worked nearby. At some point, I paused and started listening to an interview about innovation and society. The sound caught his attention.

He looked up and asked me:

“Are you into tech?”

“Of course,” I said. “I’ve always been curious.”

It was a simple answer to a deeper truth.

I studied philosophy at university. I had spent years thinking about society, power, and the invisible systems that shape how we live. I was used to questioning things, to looking beneath the surface.

And yet, there was one thing I had never seriously questioned:

Money.

My friend nodded.

“Then I’m going to invite you to a group I’m part of. I think you’ll like it.”

I said yes without thinking too much about it. I trusted him. And I could tell this mattered to him.

At the time, Bitcoin was something I had heard about, but never really explored.

That was about to change.

Entering a Different World

A few days later, we met at a café with a small group. Someone began explaining Bitcoin.

Decentralization.
Freedom.
Sovereignty.

Concepts I recognized, but had never seen applied in such a concrete way.

Then one idea stood out:

You are responsible for your money.

I didn’t fully understand it yet. But I felt the weight of it.

The following week, the group I met at the café was attending a Bitcoin event so I decided to go.

Inside, the atmosphere was vibrant and welcoming. Groups of people were gathered everywhere in conversation, animated by the same energy.

Everyone seemed to be building something.

The passion in the room was contagious.

I remember thinking:

Who are these people?
And where exactly have I landed?

The event was PlebLab Startup Day in Mexico City, presented by Yopaki, focused on Bitcoin builders and early-stage projects.

That evening ended with dinner, mariachi music, and a room full of people celebrating projects I only partially understood.

The next day, I spent time with some people from the previous night. We walked through the city, got coffee, and eventually sat down to eat.

The conversation kept returning to the same place.

What people were building.
What wasn’t working.
What they were trying next.

There was no sense of competition. No need to protect ideas.

Just curiosity, and a willingness to share.

That was when something became clear:

This was not just another event.

It was a different way of relating to work.

Are you taking advantage of all of Bitvocation’s career resources?

We’ve compiled a list of all our free and inexpensive resources here. Make use of them, share them, and if you want company and guidance while building your Bitcoin career - join us in the POW Lab!

Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

After that event I started going regularly to the local Bitcoin group my friend had introduced me to. We met every week, and once a month we had BitDevs sessions.

I read the Bitcoin whitepaper. Then The Bitcoin Standard. I listened to podcasts and followed projects.

But more importantly, I started asking a question I had somehow avoided for years:

What is money?

It surprised me.

I had spent years studying systems, questioning structures, analyzing power. But I had never examined the one system that quietly influences all the others.

Once I started, I couldn’t stop.

I began to see how money shapes incentives, and how those incentives shape behavior.

And slowly, things started to make sense in a new way.

A few months later, our local community organized the first Bitcoin-only hackathon in Mexico.

When teams were forming, I was hesitant, I didn’t know how I would fit. But then someone said something that stayed with me:

“Your background doesn’t matter. It has value”

During the hackathon, my team and I created Aprendiz de Satoshi, a Spanish-language RPG-style game designed to teach Bitcoin concepts across Latin America.

We ended up winning one of the prizes.

But more important than that, I understood something fundamental:

Bitcoin doesn’t just need developers.
It needs people.

The Breaking Point

At the time, I was working in sales. It was good money, stable, predictable.

But the environment felt increasingly disconnected from what I was discovering.

Instead of collaboration, there was competition. Instead of solving problems, people focused on blame.

I kept asking myself:

If everyone wants to succeed, why does it feel like everyone is working against each other?

Eventually, I understood something simple:

The system shapes the behavior.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, seemed to operate differently.

People shared knowledge. They helped each other. They built in public.

The contrast became impossible to ignore.

Little by little, something shifted inside me.

What once felt normal began to feel misaligned.

What once felt stable began to feel limiting.

And what once felt uncertain, Bitcoin, began to feel like the place where I wanted to be.

So I made a decision.

I left my job.

No plan.
No certainty.
No guarantees.

Only a conviction:

I would rather face uncertainty in something I believe in than remain comfortable in something that no longer makes sense to me.

Finding My Role

At first, I didn’t know what my role would be.

I’m not a developer, and I never planned to become one.

But the more I participated, the more I understood something important:

Bitcoin needs more than code.

It needs people who connect, organize, communicate, and support builders.

I began to recognize my own strengths more clearly.

I enjoy understanding what people are building.
I enjoy connecting people.
I enjoy seeing how ideas fit together.

I think in systems, in patterns, in possibilities.

PlebLab

A few months later after quitting my job, while following the Bitvocation job feed, I came across an opportunity:

“Lead of Partnerships at PlebLab”

I already knew the name. I had experienced their work firsthand in Mexico City.

What they created there stayed with me.

A space where people build, share, and support each other.

That mattered.

I applied.

Exactly one year after attending my first Bitcoin meetup.

And one day, I received the message:

Welcome to PlebLab.

Today, I work in partnerships and sponsorships, helping connect builders, founders, and companies that want to support the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Much of my work is about building bridges.

Between people.
Between ideas.
Between what exists and what could exist.

What Bitcoin Changed

Bitcoin didn’t just change what I do.

It changed how I understand work.

It gave me a sense of ownership over my time and energy.

It connected me to a global community of people building something meaningful.

And it made me realize that ideas like sovereignty are not just theoretical.

They are something you practice.

For Anyone Who Thinks They Don’t Belong

If you’re reading this and thinking:

“I’m not technical. This isn’t for me.”

You’re wrong.

Bitcoin grows because people with different skills show up and contribute.

You don’t need permission.
You don’t need to have everything figured out.

You just need to start.

Author Bio

Laura Meza leads Partnerships and Sponsorships at PlebLab, a Bitcoin hackerspace and startup hub based in Austin. Her work focuses on connecting founders, builders, and companies that want to support the Bitcoin ecosystem. She is passionate about helping more people find their place in Bitcoin.

Proof of work.

But for many Bitcoiners, there’s a significant gap between ability and visibility. If you’ve been doing the work but still aren’t being picked or found by the right employers, clients, or collaborators, you’re not lacking talent - you’re likely hitting a Findability Blocker.

The better you can name what’s stopping you, the easier it becomes to set targeted goals and ask for the right kind of help.

Below are the six most common blockers we see in the Bitvocation community — plus a practical fix for each.

1. Information: The “Signal” Gap

“I don’t know where the high-signal Bitcoin jobs are posted or how to find hiring managers.”

If this sounds familiar, you’re missing the specific information needed to take your next step.

If you’re not following our job feed yet, that’s your first move: t.me/bitvocationfeed. But in our decentralized, largely bootstrapped industry, jobs don’t always appear on job boards. They show up in beta groups, in tweets or Nostr posts, or in private DMs: “Do you know a good [insert role]?”

The fix:
Don’t wait for opportunities. Position yourself to be found.

Ask:

• What would need to happen for hiring managers to find me before they post a role?

• Which groups should I join?

• Where should my work be visible?

• How do I make sure people know I exist?

2. Skill: The “Competency” Gap

“I know where the jobs are, but I don’t feel ready for them yet.”

This happens when you can see the destination clearly, but feel like you’re missing the skills to get there.

It can feel like a brick wall — but it’s actually the most straightforward gap to close.

The fix:
Get specific about what’s missing, then go learn it.

Knowledge is abundant (and often free). You can use AI to accelerate your learning - but don’t just consume. Teach what you’re learning. Practice it (proof of work).

There’s no faster way to build real competence.

3. Belief: The “Imposter” Gap

“I’m not good enough. This niche is too competitive for me.”

This is the Thinker and the Prover at work. If you believe you’re not good enough, your mind will quietly collect evidence to confirm it — while filtering out your wins.

The fix:
Coach yourself with better questions:

• Is this actually true?

• Who would I be without this belief?

• If I knew my background was exactly what a Bitcoin startup needed — what would I do today?

4. The Proof of Work Gap

“I’d love to build in public. I just don’t have the time.”

Documentation is part of your proof of work. If you’re not being found, it’s often because your contributions aren’t visible yet.

The fix:
Don’t try to find time — protect it.

Commit to a few minutes a day. You likely already have proof of work - but have you shared it? Is it easy to find? Could a recruiter stumble across your profile and instantly see that you’re all-in on Bitcoin?

Pick one platform - X, LinkedIn, or Nostr - and start there. Comment. Share what you learned this week. Stay consistent.

That’s what makes you memorable, surfaceable, findable.

5. The Visibility Gap

“The thought of posting content makes me feel slightly ill.”

You’re not alone. Fear of judgment - or worse, rejection - is one of the most common human fears.

Fear is meant to keep you safe. In this case, it’s keeping you stuck.

The fix:
Start small. Share your post with a trusted friend first. Get feedback. Get encouragement. Then hit publish.

You’ll likely discover that people aren’t paying as much attention as you feared. In fact, it’s actually really hard to get attention. The odds of rejection are lower than you think.

And if the response is better than expected? You’ll want to do it again.

PS: That skill you’ve been learning (from point #2)? Ask friends for testimonials. Let them endorse you publicly. It’s powerful visibility - without needing to create new content.

6. The Momentum Gap

“I can’t seem to get started — or stay consistent.”

Procrastination isn’t laziness. It’s often a sign that something feels forced. When you rely only on willpower, you often create internal resistance.

The fix:
Shift from should to want.

Ask:

• What’s one action I’d actually enjoy doing today?

Follow genuine interest, and progress starts to feel natural instead of forced. And if something still needs to get done? Do it in community. Turn it into a game. Create accountability. Make it social.

Name Your Blocker. Find Your Path.

Ready to get unstuck?

You don’t have to do this alone. Bring your question, your half-written thread, your “I want to post this but I’m scared” draft - all of it is welcome in the POW Lab.

Whether you need a sounding board, accountability, or just someone to say “you can do it,” the community is here for you.

That’s part of what a Strategic Bitcoiners Reserve is for.

Learn more about the POW Lab

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

Our Bitcoin Conference Overview has officially become too large to fit in one image! #newheaderimage

There are 15 Bitcoin events happening around the world that we know of, plus tons of local Pizza Day events on top of that.

Have you checked out our new conference overview yet?

Show me all details & ticket discounts!

Say what you’re looking for. Every single time.

In a recent 1:1 coaching call with one of our POW Lab members, I was asked how to make the most of a Bitcoin conference — especially as someone looking to land a role at a Bitcoin company.

The biggest tip I could give: when someone asks, “So, what do you do?” — don’t just say what you do now. Say what you want to do, what you’re looking for, and what you’re passionate about.

If you simply say, “I’m a data analyst,” that might be a lost opportunity.

Try adding what you’re looking for:

“I’m a data analyst. I’m currently working at a bank, but I’d love to do this work in the Bitcoin industry.”

“I’m a data analyst, but I’m actually looking to move into development — ideally at a Bitcoin startup.”

You never know what connection might come from that. They might say, “Hey, I just spoke to a founder who’s looking for someone like you — he’s over there. Let me introduce you!” Or maybe they’ll meet someone tomorrow or next week.

If they do come across an opportunity for you, you want them to remember you. But if you never share what you’re looking for, nobody can remember you for it.

And don’t forget the other side of the coin: ask people what they are looking for, too. Everyone needs something — a job, a client, an introduction. Actively try to help. That’s what makes you memorable. People remember who helped them, and they’ll want to return the favour if they can.

Companies with booths are, of course, worth talking to as well. Check them out, shake hands, and ask if they’re hiring. If they can afford a booth, chances are they have a budget for growth.

But do not underestimate small talk and casual conversations with people you meet along the way. They can be a goldmine if you know how to tap into them.

If you can’t make it to any events in May but still want to connect with Bitcoiners who are serious about their careers, join us in the POW Lab and let us support you on your journey.

Learn about the POW Lab

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

• 431 Bitcoin jobs posted across 77 companies in Q1 2026

• - 10% compared to Q1 2025

• 45% Bitcoin-only — the distributed ecosystem keeps growing

• 78% non-dev — Bitcoin needs far more than developers

• 46% remote — steady, not growing

• Mid-level dominates — Bitcoin-only companies hire flatter, with fewer managers and more senior builders

Hey Bitcoiners,

If you’ve been following us, you’ve noticed that in the last two months we didn’t have monthly reports. After regular monthly updates and intensive work on the annual report for 2025, we’ve decided to switch to a pace that’s sustainable for a small team.

The data and depth aren’t going anywhere. But we’re putting more energy where it matters most — focusing on our POW Lab and the findability of our members, building resources like our new and improved Bitcoin events board, and creating value beyond charts and numbers.

So welcome to our first quarterly report — January through March 2026!

How many Bitcoin Jobs were there in 2026 Q1?

431 jobs across 77 companies. 🟠 194 Bitcoin-only — that’s 45%.

What Does the Bitcoin Job Market Trend Look Like?

Same pattern as last year — January peaks, then tapers off through the quarter.

Q1 2026 followed the same shape as Q1 2025, with about 10% fewer jobs compared to last year.

Signs of a bear market? The effects of AI adoption? Or both?

Who’s Hiring?

77 companies hired in Q1 2026. But the split tells the same story from our annual report.

🟠 52 Bitcoin-only companies posted 194 jobs — averaging about 4 each. No single company dominates, the ecosystem is distributed.

25 Bitcoin-adjacent companies posted 237 jobs — but the top 10 account for 90% of them. If you’re targeting adjacent companies, you’re likely applying to one of a handful of major employers.

The takeaway hasn’t changed: the 🟠 Bitcoin-only ecosystem is wide and distributed. That’s where being visible matters most — because no single job board or recruiter covers all 52 of them.

We want to thank Podcasted! for the collaboration over the past few weeks.

They are the producers of Bitcoin TL;DR and have repurposed our Annual Bitcoin Job Market report as well as our recent Lead With Your Skills article into audio assets and episodes on their show.

Check them out on Geyser Fund or their website to learn how you can have your content repurposed and give them a follow on Nostr and Fountain.

How many Bitcoin jobs are remote?

46% remote — steady, not growing. 🟠 Bitcoin-only companies are split nearly 50/50 between remote and on-site.

The remote option is there and it’s not going anywhere. But if you’re a Bitcoiner looking to stand out — meetups, conferences, and showing up in person matters.

Will the desire for real human connection start showing in the numbers? We’ll be watching.

Where are the hotspots of Bitcoin opportunities?

The US leads as always with 93 on-site jobs. But look at the other hotspots — Singapore, Czechia, and Gibraltar. Three very different regions, each building their own Bitcoin hub.

That’s a signal. Bitcoin work isn’t just a US story. If you’re in Europe, Southeast Asia, or even a small jurisdiction like Gibraltar — there are opportunities closer than you think.

Do you have to be a Developer to work in Bitcoin?

Still not a developer? Not even with an AI assistant writing half your code? Good news — neither are 78% of Bitcoin job postings.

What roles have been in demand?

On the dev side — honestly, nothing flashy. Write software, crunch data, keep things running — build.

On the non-dev side: financial controllers, social media managers, product owners. If you can manage a budget, tell a story, or ship a product — Bitcoin companies are looking for you. No laser eyes required. Or does it?

Follow our Telegram job feed or Nostr bot to stay updated and never miss a role that could be the perfect fit for you.

What Level of Talent Are Bitcoin Companies Hiring?

Mid-level leads at 40%, followed by Senior (20%) and Manager (19%).

But here’s what’s less obvious: 🟠 Bitcoin-only companies and adjacent companies hire differently. 🟠 Bitcoin-only has fewer managers and more senior individual contributors and directors. Adjacent companies lean toward traditional corporate hierarchies.

It makes sense — smaller, mission-driven companies need people who own their work, not people who manage other people’s work.

Final thoughts: Not a job — a vocation

If you’ve been following us, you know what we have been sharing about working in Bitcoin. It’s mission-driven. It’s more remote. It’s startup energy — do the work, show the work.

But beyond the job market, Bitcoin teaches something deeper: focus. Signal over noise. What’s your one thing?

When your money is sound, you stop worrying about it. And when you stop worrying about money, you can finally focus on what actually matters — your craft, your family, your mission.

That’s what Bitcoin brings to the table. Not just jobs, but vocation.

Interested in Integrating This Data?

Are you a founder or leader in the Bitcoin space looking to integrate job postings or company profiles into your application?

Are you someone interested in gaining deeper insights beyond the charts?

Let’s talk – we’d love to hear your needs and explore how we can help!

Let’s Connect

This report is prepared by Mindaugas and if you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn and Nostr. I am happy to connect and have conversations with fellow Bitcoiners or data lovers.

This report combines Bitvocation's data analysis with AI-assisted writing to deliver insights efficiently.

Follow Bitvocation on LinkedIn, subscribe to our Telegram channel, follow Bitvocation Bot on Nostr and subscribe here on Substack for updates.

If you’ve ever bought a conference ticket only to find out later there was a discount code — this one’s for you.

We just launched our new and massively improved Bitcoin Conference Board: a living, curated overview of Bitcoin events happening around the world in 2026 and beyond. Built for people in, or entering, the Bitcoin industry.

Right now it’s focused on conferences. But our vision is bigger — we’re building this into a home for every type of Bitcoin-only event: hackathons, educational courses, online workshops, community meetups, and more. Offline or online, big or small.

Here’s a quick tour of what you can do with it.

Spot featured events instantly

At the top of the page, you’ll find a rotating carousel of featured events. These placements are a mix of events that either offer you a discount, or that we personally think are really worth your attention as someone building a career in Bitcoin.

Switch between list and calendar view

Prefer to see events laid out chronologically? Done. Want a visual calendar so you can spot which months are packed? One click. The toggle sits right at the top of the board — try both and see which works better for how you plan. (Tip: use the calendar view on mobile.)

Filter by continent, country, or timeframe

50+ events; 20+ countries so far. A lot to take in. Use the filters to narrow things down to what’s relevant for you — whether you’re based in Europe and want local events, or you’re planning a trip and want to see what’s happening in a specific region.

Find discounts before you buy

This is the part we’re most excited about.

We’re partnering with several event organisers to offer exclusive discounts to the Bitvocation community. When a discount is available, you’ll see the code displayed right next to the event — no hunting around, no guessing.

We keep adding new partnerships throughout the year. So bookmark this page and check it before you purchase any conference ticket. We also include a roundup of upcoming events — with any active discounts — in our newsletter once a month. If you’re subscribed, you’ll get a reminder straight to your inbox.

Submit your own event (coming soon)

The board is built for two audiences at once: people looking to attend Bitcoin events and find the best deals, and organizers who want to get their event in front of the right crowd.

We’re opening up submissions soon. Once live, anyone will be able to list a Bitcoin-only event directly on the board — conferences, hackathons, educational courses, online workshops, local meetups, you name it. If it’s Bitcoin-only and worth knowing about, it belongs here.

If you’re organizing an event and want to be listed now — or offer an exclusive discount to our community — reach out. We’d love to feature you and make this board the most comprehensive overview of Bitcoin-only events around the world.

Bookmark it. Share it. Use it.

The conference page is free, public, and updated regularly. Pass it along to anyone in your network navigating the Bitcoin event calendar this year.

And if you haven’t yet — subscribing to this newsletter means you’ll get the monthly conference digest automatically, with current discounts included.

Browse the Bitcoin Conferences Board

PS: Our episode of last week’s newsletter on the Bitcoin TL;DR podcast ranks already in the top 5 of their episodes! Thank you to everyone who’s checked it out! Give them a follow and 5 star rating on Spotify or a boost on Fountain if you enjoy what they do, and follow them on Nostr!

For decades, landing a job meant crafting the right CV, rehearsing the right answers, and hoping your experience ticked enough boxes. But that model is breaking down — especially in Bitcoin, where the industry moves fast and employers care far more about what you can do than where you’ve been. The question hiring teams at Bitcoin companies, startups, and protocols are now asking isn’t “what have you done?” — it’s “what can you uniquely do, right now, for us?”

The shift is profound: Bitcoin job seekers must stop thinking like candidates and start seeing themselves as small businesses.

Today’s newsletter is a collaboration with Podcasted! - the producers of Bitcoin TL;DR. If you prefer to be told about this content “by two friends” rather than read through this article, and you want to dive deeper into our research - check out their latest episode on Spotify or Fountain or wherever you’re listening.

You Are a Micro Business

Think about how a company goes to market. It doesn’t say, “We’ve been around for ten years.” It says: “We solve this specific problem, for this specific customer, better than anyone else.” It leads with value.

Bitcoin job seekers need to take the same approach. Instead of leading with job titles or career timelines, lead with your skills and the problems you solve. What is your area of expertise? Who benefits from it? What outcomes do you reliably deliver?

This reframe — from candidate to micro business — changes everything. Your CV becomes a value proposition. Your LinkedIn becomes a landing page. Your conversations with hiring managers stop being interviews and start being discovery calls.

Your Skills Are The Services You Offer

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: job titles are becoming hollow. “Marketing Manager” or “Operations Lead” tells an employer far less than it used to — and AI can now handle large portions of what those roles historically involved.

What cuts through the noise are specific, demonstrable skills.

• Can you explain Bitcoin’s monetary policy to institutional audiences with zero prior knowledge?

• Can you manage open-source contributor communities across time zones?

• Can you translate between protocol developers and product teams in ways that actually unblock things?

These are skills. These are the “products and services” you offer.

The Bitcoin job seekers who will thrive are those who can name their skills precisely, contextualise them with evidence, and connect them directly to the problems employers are losing sleep over.

Know your product.

Know yourself.

Now Add AI Agents

AI agents are software systems that don’t just answer questions — they take actions. They research, draft, analyse, schedule, code, and execute multi-step tasks with minimal human input. And critically, they operate through defined skills — discrete capabilities orchestrated together toward a goal.

A well-designed AI agent workflow looks like a well-run team: a capability for research, one for writing, one for analysis. Each skill is composable and purposeful. Together, they produce outcomes no single capability could achieve alone.

Mastering Agents Turns You Into An Agency

If AI agents are becoming a standard part of the workforce, the most effective Bitcoin job seekers won’t just compete with AI — they’ll orchestrate it. They’ll become, in the truest sense, an agency: a skilled operator who brings their own unique human capabilities and knows how to deploy AI agents to extend their reach, speed, and output.

Think about what this looks like in practice. A Bitcoin content strategist who crafts compelling narratives and deploys AI to research, repurpose, and distribute at scale. A protocol researcher who analyses proposals and uses agents to synthesise GitHub threads and mailing lists in hours rather than days. A recruiter who builds talent pipelines and uses AI agents to automate personalized follow-ups and real-time status updates - putting an end to ghosting once and for all.

In each case, the human brings what AI cannot: judgment, creativity, relational intelligence, contextual nuance. The AI agents bring what humans find costly: speed, scale, and tireless execution. Together, they operate like an agency. One person. Many capabilities. Significant output.

What This Means for Your Bitcoin Career Strategy

Audit your skills ruthlessly. Not your job titles — your actual capabilities. What do you know how to do that creates real value in Bitcoin?

Get specific about the problems you solve. “Good communicator” is noise. “Able to onboard non-technical users to self-custody Bitcoin solutions” is signal.

Build your AI agent layer. Identify tasks that are repetitive or research-heavy and learn to delegate them to AI. It’s not about replacing your expertise — it’s about multiplying your capacity.

The professionals who thrive in an AI agentic world understand that the game has elevated. Skills still matter. Problems still need solving. But the best players now show up with a full agency behind them.

Become a micro business. Lead with your skills. And bring your agents with you.

Looking for your next role in Bitcoin? Subscribe to our job feed to browse open positions and join our POW Lab — a Strategic Bitcoiners Reserve.

Looking to get more visibility for your Bitcoin business? Book an episode with Podcasted!’s podcast-as-a-service, or contact us to sponsor this newsletter.

This article was inspired by Sinead Bovell’s research. Follow her podcast!

Bitcoin conference season is under way! Every month we’ll see more and more events happening!

Remember, you get the best prices if you sign up early. Organisers reward you for early commitment and raise the prices slowly over time. But even if you missed the super lowest price - you can still get 10% off for many of them with our discount codes! (Good news - the Bitcoin Filmfest discount code is now live!)

Show me all details & ticket discounts!

The best conversation at a Bitcoin conference rarely happens on stage.

It happens in the hallway. By the coffee counter. Five minutes before the next talk starts, when someone turns to the person next to them and says, “So — what do you do?”

That question is a door.

And whether you walk through it confidently or fumble for words in the moment... well, that’s the difference between a conference that changes your career trajectory and one that was just a really good experience.

Here’s something worth thinking about before your next event: most people show up to conferences hoping things will happen to them. They collect name badges and follow the schedule and sit politely in rows listening to speakers.

The people who get the most out of conference season do the opposite. They decide, in advance, what they want. A conversation with a specific person. Three new contacts in a role they’re curious about. One real connection — not ten business cards, but one person they’ll still be talking to six months from now.

So before you pack your bag for Las Vegas, Dallas, Kreuzlingen or wherever April takes you — spend ten minutes answering this:

If this conference went really well for me, what would that look like?

Write it down. It changes everything.

And if you can’t make it to any events but still want to connect with other Bitcoiners who are serious about their careers — that’s exactly what the POW Lab is for.

Learn about the POW Lab

Speaking of good conversations - our friends at Podcasted! believe impactful conversations can also happen on your About page, in someone’s earbuds on a Sunday walk, or right before a potential client decides whether to trust you. That’s why they created their podcast-as-a-service - to help you get the word out about “your new thing” in a way that actually lands. Because let’s face it...

Nobody wants to be sold to. But everybody loves a good conversation.

Think about it - when a friend tells you about something they discovered, you actually listen. That’s exactly what a Podcasted! episode does for your business. Instead of a sales page people scroll past, you get a natural, two-host dialogue that tells your story the way a trusted friend would.

Embed it on your About page. Let it do the talking while you sleep. Watch it quietly work for your SEO too.

Bitcoin businesses, builders, authors - if you have a website, a blog post, or a paper that deserves more ears, submit the link and have your episode live within 48 hours. No recording. No editing. No fuss.

👉 Podcasted.info — the AI podcast-as-a-service behind Bitcoin TL;DR.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

It’s International Women’s Day — a good moment to talk about something people still say surprisingly often:

“There are no women in Bitcoin.”

The truth is: they’re just less visible.

It’s true that there are far fewer women in Bitcoin than men. But after ten years in this industry, I can tell you: there are far more than there were a decade ago. I’ve got lots of Bitcoin girlfriends these days!

There are growing networks for women in Bitcoin, like Les Femmes Orange, and last week there was even a whole Bitcoin event dedicated to women, by women: Women of Bitcoin.

This is a call for women to dare to be more visible — and for the men to look a little harder.

Today’s newsletter is sponsored by our friends from Podcasted!

Have you launched a new product that needs to be explained to the world, or do you want to repurpose a series of essays? Get them podcasted into an engaging conversation and an SEO-boosting audio asset for your website with Podcasted.info — the AI podcast-as-a-service behind Bitcoin TL;DR!

We repurpose your content - Bitcoin websites, research papers, videos, blogs, or presentations - and convert them into professional two-host dialogue episodes published on Spotify, Apple, and Fountain. No recording needed. Follow us on Nostr and visit Podcasted.info for more info!

Just Because You Can’t See Them Doesn’t Mean They’re Not There

Here’s something I’ve noticed: women often don’t put themselves forward, especially not in an industry that still looks like a men’s world.

A couple of years ago I was at a conference where a podcaster interviewed 18 out of 20 speakers. The two he missed? The only two women on the programme. I was one of them. We found out later that every man he’d interviewed had simply walked up to him and said: “Hey, want to do an interview?” They invited themselves. We didn’t. Not because we had nothing to say — but because that’s not how many of us are wired. We were waiting to be invited.

Nobody was wrong. But something was missed.

Women also tend to check the team pages of companies before applying for jobs — to see whether there are other women there, or whether they’d be the only one.

Some women enjoy the challenge of being the first.

But many won’t even apply.

And here’s the thing: if women don’t dare to be the first female team member, or don’t dare to show up as speakers, content creators, or founders — if they continue to stay in the background — Bitcoin will forever look like a men’s domain, even though it isn’t.

Visibility changes perception.

Perception changes participation.

The more women appear publicly, the more normal it becomes for other women to join. Women need to see other women and think: “Huh. If she can do it, maybe I can too.”

A Note to Myself — and Maybe to You

Visibility doesn’t come naturally to me. Over ten years in this space, and I was invisible for the first eight of them. I’m much more comfortable behind the scenes than on a stage.

I make myself show up anyway. I have to — for Bitvocation. But also for other women. If they see me and others, hopefully they’ll give themselves permission to show up too.

Bitcoin is, genuinely, the most supportive industry I have ever worked in. Your fear of rejection might be more unfounded than you think. Dare to take the first step.

I’ve seen this firsthand in the POW Lab, our community for people building their Bitcoin careers (30% of which are women). Members have dared to teach Bitcoin beginners courses before they felt fully ready. Others have launched educational Instagram accounts, YouTube channels, online courses, and websites — from scratch. It’s possible. People are doing it. You can too.

The world can only invite you if you’re visible and findable.

What You Can Do Today

If you’re a woman in Bitcoin:

Show up a little more than feels comfortable. Post the thing. Apply for the role. Say yes to the stage. We need to see you — and so does the next woman who’s still on the fence.

If you’re a supporter of women in Bitcoin:

Give the women you admire a shoutout today. Make them visible. Send some followers their way. Actively recommend them as a podcast guest or conference speaker.

If you organise events or run a podcast:

Review how much visibility you’re giving women compared to men. And no — you shouldn’t add women to your speaker list just because they are women. Feature the people who can provide the most value. But before you go with whoever walked up to you first, ask yourself: “Have I actually considered all the experts on this topic?” Some of them might be women. The more women are actively invited to be visible, the less Bitcoin will look like a men’s world. Most will happily accept your invitation, even if they’d never have asked.

If you’re a VC or run pitch events:

Consider whether the Silicon Valley pitch contest format — founders on one side, money on the other — actually works for everyone. Are there really no female founders in Bitcoin, or does this format simply not suit them? Even one woman on the judging panel could make a meaningful difference.

Bitcoin Is Energy

The humans who build it, nurture it, and grow it bring energy too. Masculine energy. Feminine energy.

We are all responsible for the energy we bring to this ecosystem — so that Bitcoin can truly reach everyone.

I’m looking forward to SEEING more and more women on this path!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

The reason many people struggle to land a job isn’t a lack of experience, intelligence, or motivation. They’re getting stopped much earlier in the process:

Their CV never reaches a human.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are now the default gatekeepers for hiring — even at Bitcoin companies. And while most people know about obvious issues like missing keywords or fancy layouts, there are much quieter traps that can filter you out without warning.

Important context:
All sources referenced in this article come from the fiat job market. However, ATS systems work the same everywhere. While very small Bitcoin startups may still hire manually, larger Bitcoin companies — especially those scaling quickly — often use the same tooling as the rest of the tech world. So it’s best to be prepared.

Let’s go through the ones almost nobody talks about.

The quiet ATS mistakes that kill otherwise strong CVs

1. Inconsistent fonts across sections

Using one font for headers and another for body text looks harmless — but some ATS parsers treat this as inconsistent structure.

Result: sections are misread, skipped, or incorrectly weighted.

👉 Fix:
Use one single font throughout. Same family, same weight system. Boring is good.

Source: jobease.ca

2. Contact details in a “creative” order

ATS systems expect boring, predictable structure.

If your contact details don’t follow a standard hierarchy — for example, if LinkedIn comes before email, or location is buried — the parser may fail to extract them at all.

No contact details = auto-reject.

👉 Fix:
Always use this order at the top:

Full name
Phone number
Email address
Location (City, Country)
LinkedIn (optional, last)

Source: jobease.ca

3. Mixed date formats

This one is surprisingly common.

Using Dec 2023 in one role and 12/2023 in another can confuse timeline parsing. Some ATS rely on strict chronological logic.

👉 Fix:
Pick one date format and use it everywhere.
Example: Jan 2022 – Dec 2023

Source: jobease.ca

4. Skills section buried at the bottom

Many ATS scan skills first, long before work experience.

If your skills are tucked away on page two, the system may never associate you with the role’s core requirements — even if you’re a perfect match.

👉 Fix:
Place your Skills section immediately after your summary or profile.

Source: jobease.ca

This one matters for humans too! We recently had a Bitcoin recruiter join one of our POW Lab community calls, and she confirmed something important:

Recruiters spend roughly 5-10 seconds per cv on the first pass.

That means your most relevant skills — and your passion for Bitcoin — need to appear at the very top!

5. Acronyms without spelling them out

ATS systems don’t “understand context.” They match text.

If the job description says Customer Relationship Management and your CV only says CRM, you might miss the match entirely.

👉 Fix:
Spell it out once, then use the acronym:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Source: jobease.ca

6. Tables — even simple ones

Tables are a layout trick humans love and ATS hate.

Many systems read tables out of order, column by column, or ignore them completely.

👉 Fix:
Never use tables for:

• skills

• work experience

• summaries

• contact info

Use clean, linear text only.

Source: jobease.ca

7. Creative section headers

“Professional Journey” sounds great.
ATS doesn’t care.

Most systems rely on exact, boring section names to classify your information.

👉 Fix:
Use standard headers only:

• Work Experience

• Skills

• Education

• Certifications

Save creativity for interviews.

Source: jobease.ca

8. Fancy bullet points and icons

Arrows, icons, emoji bullets, custom symbols — all can break parsing.

What looks clean to you may appear as noise to the system.

👉 Fix:
Use simple bullets only:

• Hyphen -

• Standard dot •

Source: scale.jobs

9. Scanned or image-based PDFs

If your CV is a scan — or a PDF created in a way that flattens text into images — the ATS literally can’t read it.

It doesn’t “try harder.” It just rejects it.

👉 Fix:
Use:

• .docx, or

• a searchable (text-based) PDF

Source: scale.jobs

10. Algorithmic scoring and automated ranking

Some ATS use machine-learning models to rank resumes based on patterns in past hiring data — not on nuance or intent.

This can disadvantage:

• career switchers

• non-linear backgrounds

• unconventional experience

You can’t fully control this, but you can reduce friction.

👉 Fix:

• Mirror job description language precisely

• Avoid unnecessary personal details

• Focus on role-relevant outcomes

Source: collegerecruiter.com

What about photos on a CV?

Short answer: don’t include one — especially if you’re applying internationally.

Here’s why:

• Parsing issues

Embedded images can break text flow, cause skipped sections, or confuse the document structure.

Source: davron.net

• File format problems

Photos increase the risk of creating non-searchable PDFs — which ATS can’t read.

Source: reallifecareeradvice.com

• Bias amplification

Even when not intended, visual data can subtly influence AI-driven scoring models.

Source: jobscan.co

• Regional mismatch

Photos are common in some European countries, but many ATS are built for US-style resumes and penalize them silently.

👉 Best practice:
No photo on an ATS CV.
If a company truly wants one, share it later — via LinkedIn or after first contact.

Final checklist (bookmark this)

Before applying, ask yourself:

• One font, everywhere?

• Skills near the top?

• No tables, icons, or fancy bullets?

• Standard section headers?

• One consistent date format?

• No photo?

• Searchable file format?

If the answer to all of these is yes — you’ve removed a huge amount of invisible friction.

How to stop dealing with ATS altogether

The most reliable way to avoid ATS systems is not to perfect your CV — it’s to make them irrelevant.

At Bitvocation, we’re all about becoming FINDABLE. When you’re findable, opportunities and jobs come to you, rather than you having to chase them.

You may still be asked for your CV after someone has already found you and is genuinely interested in you — but at that point, they’re not running it through an ATS.

ATS systems are for strangers.

Once you’ve been found, you’re not a stranger anymore.

Becoming FINDABLE means:

• Showing your proof of work publicly and consistently

• Connecting with as many people in the industry as possible and building real relationships. In the Bitcoin network, both quantity and quality matter.

• Being a good node on the network. Be someone people enjoy helping. Be someone others want to work with.

That’s how you take ownership of your Bitcoin career and build your reputation.

PS: We help people become FINDABLE through our POW Lab.
More details here.

It’s frustrating. It can make you feel ignored, dismissed — invisible.

But before you assume the worst, pause for a moment and consider the reality on the other side.

Anyone actively building in Bitcoin today lives inside a constant stream of noise: Slack pings. Telegram groups. Signal threads. Email. Nostr. LinkedIn requests that turn out to be bots, pitches, or scripts sprayed to a thousand people at once. Conference chats. DMs from strangers. DMs from bots pretending not to be strangers.

Every message that arrives is not just a message. It’s a task.

When you reach out to someone, you are adding yet another item to their already extensive to-do list. We all have limited time. And time is even more valuable than bitcoin.

So we allocate our attention carefully and prioritize.

How do we do that?

• By level of relationship.

• By status.

• By “what’s in it for me?”

If you’re the other person’s boss, their most valuable client, or the love of their life — it’s highly likely you’ll get a fast response.

If your name is Michael Saylor or Jack Mallers — or some other well-known person in the space — you’ll probably also have a 99% response rate.

And if your message contains the answer to their prayers, same story.

But if you’re a stranger?

You land at the bottom.

That’s not arrogance on their part. It’s focus.

We’re all doing exactly the same thing in our own inboxes.

And there’s another thing to consider: these days, messages don’t just represent tasks. They increasingly represent risk. In our industry especially, phishing emails are daily occurrences and live deepfake calls are no longer science fiction. Every unknown message requires caution.

So the real question becomes:

How do you move up the priority list?

You have to earn people’s attention and trust.

• Start building the relationship in public.

• Build your proof of work.

• Learn how to write more effective messages.

Before sending a DM, engage in the comments. Especially on LinkedIn. Add value. Not just “Great post!” but something thoughtful and relevant. Do it more than once. When your name appears consistently in a constructive way, it starts to feel familiar to the other person.

When someone has seen your name adding intelligent commentary a handful of times, you’re no longer a complete stranger. So when you eventually do send a private message, it will feel different.

Still — don’t send a DM with a request right away.

Send a compliment. Share a helpful piece of information. Send something that makes them smile.

💡 Tip:

Sometimes the most powerful line you can include is this:

“No reply needed, just sharing.”

It sounds simple, but it changes the entire dynamic.

It communicates:
I respect your time.
I know you’re busy.
I’m not assigning you work.
I don’t expect anything from you.

You may find this is a hack — because, ironically, that’s often what gets the reply.

💡 Here’s another one:

Send your message right before conferences and events.

If the other person is speaking at an event you’re attending, write to them ahead of time. Tell them you appreciated something specific they built or shared. Mention you’ll be at the same event and are looking forward to their talk. Don’t ask for a meeting. Don’t put pressure on them.

Very often you’ll get a response like: “Thanks! Stop by our booth and say hi.”

Now you’ve created context.

At the event, when you introduce yourself and refer to that message, you’re no longer a complete stranger. You’re someone who already made a small, respectful connection.

If you’re interested in collaborating with Bitvocation by sponsoring this newsletter, get in touch! You can see our views and engagement rates in the last section of our Annual Report here.

DM’s are like prompts

Communicate clearly. Make it effortless for the recipient. Treat your message like a prompt for an AI: if your input is bad, the output will be bad.

Make your intention clear in the subject line. If the recipient can see from the preview alone, that “this is just a 10-second task”, your odds of receiving a reply are going way up!

Most people genuinely like to help — especially if there’s already some form of connection. But you do need to make it easy for them.

If your message is vague, overly long, or requires heavy thinking before they even understand what you want, you’ll likely never hear back.

A confused mind always says no.

At Bitvocation, we see the other side of this every day.

We cannot reply to every single message on every single channel. We often receive messages along the lines of “I’m looking for a Bitcoin job. Do you have anything?” But we need to trust that if the sender found our contact form, they’ll also find our free job feeds (or the POW Lab, if they want us to know them personally).

We also get a lot of very vague applications for our BTX programme and had to make the decision to only respond to the clearest proposals.

Effective written communication is really important if you want to be the signal amongst the noise. You’ve got all the AI tools at your disposal for that. You can always ask “How can I say this in the shortest, kindest and most effective way?” before you hit Send.

So if you’re not getting replies, it’s not because you’re not good enough.

It’s because your industry reputation, your relationship with the recipient, or your written communication isn’t strong enough yet.

The solution isn’t more outreach. It’s visibility.

Comment. Publish. Contribute. Be visible.

Build relationships long before you need something from them.

When Bitvocation started, nobody knew us. Many people didn’t take us seriously. Now, two years in — after consistent proof of work and relationship building — things are shifting. We get more Yes’es when we reach out. And more people reach out to us first, because we’re on their radar.

We became visible.
We became findable.

Keep building your proof of work.
Keep refining your communication skills.
Stack contacts and connections like you’re stacking sats.

Low time preference wins in Bitcoin.

This article was inspired by conversations in the POW Lab Telegram group. Join us!

March looks modest compared to the wave of events in February. But the year is packed — and we’ve secured additional ticket discounts for you.

Show me all details & ticket discounts!

Join MADBitcoin Summit in Madrid as a volunteer

Our latest event partnership is with MADBitcoin Summit, taking place May 9–12 in Madrid, Spain.

They’re offering:

• 🎟 10% off tickets with code BITVOCATION10

• 🙌 A chance to volunteer at the event

If you’re serious about working in Bitcoin, this second option might be even more powerful.

It’s strategy.

It’s value for value.

Here’s why:

1. Exposure (the good kind).
When you volunteer, you’re not hiding in the audience. You’re visible. You interact with speakers, organizers, founders, sponsors. People see your name tag. They see your initiative.

2. Network density.
In four days, you’ll meet more Bitcoiners than you might meet in six months online. Real conversations. Real context. Real follow-ups.

3. Immersion.
You absorb the culture. The language. The energy. The current debates. You become sharper — not just in knowledge, but in signal.

4. Proof of Work.
Helping run an event is contribution.
It’s participation.
It’s skin in the game.

That’s something you can reference later — on LinkedIn, in interviews, and in conversations.

5. Increased Findability.
The more you show up in real spaces, the more your name starts circulating naturally.
Opportunities in Bitcoin tend to come through proximity and reputation — not cold applications.

Volunteers will support with reception, guidance at the venue, and general event organization.

If you’re interested, contact Aldona, the organiser, directly at:
aldona@madbitcoin.org

Maybe we’ll see each other there.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Thanks for being part of the Bitvocation community 🧡

One takeaway stood out immediately:

The biggest winners aren’t the most credentialed specialists.
They’re generalists with agency.

If you’re working in Bitcoin — or trying to — that should sound familiar.

Because Bitcoin has always rewarded the same trait.

Who Will Win in an AI World

According to Amjad Masad, the winners aren’t the “smartest” people on paper.

They’re generalists with agency.

People who
see gaps
notice friction
feel quietly annoyed by inefficient processes

…and then do something about them.

Amjad calls this being “lazy” — in the best possible way:
people who don’t want to do repetitive, dumb work,
so they build systems that remove it.

That’s exactly how Bitvocation started
(though I’d personally call it efficiency, not laziness :).

I didn’t think:

“I should build a career platform.”

I thought:

“Why is it so insanely cumbersome to search dozens of job boards for Bitcoin-specific jobs? Why don’t these just land on my phone?”

That’s how our Bitcoin Job feed on Telegram was born.

No grand master plan.
No polished strategy deck.

Just a generalist seeing a gap — and closing it.

Why Generalists Will Beat Specialists

One of the spiciest opinions from the interview:

Traditional engineers often make the worst AI “vibe coders”.

Why?

Because they have too much to unlearn.

They micromanage the AI.
They fight the tool instead of collaborating with it.

We’ve seen this pattern before.

Economists were late to Bitcoin.
Finance professionals resisted it the longest.

Heavy institutional training can make letting go harder.

Meanwhile, people who ask,

“Could this be easier?”

quietly overtake them.

Who Will Struggle

This part is uncomfortable — but important.

The people most at risk are:

• narrow specialists

• people doing repetitive knowledge work

• people who define their worth by how hard something is to do manually

If your daily work feels like:

• moving data between tools

• writing the same reports

• manually researching things AI can summarize in seconds

You’re already competing with a machine.

And the machine doesn’t get tired.

The Internal Ego Battle (This Is the Quiet One)

For some people, the challenge won’t be technical.

It will be emotional.

Especially for
highly intellectual professionals,
creatives,
writers,
coders —

anyone who fears “losing their edge”.

That fear is human.
And valid.

But embracing AI doesn’t have to mean giving up your intelligence
or outsourcing your creativity.

What if it did the opposite?

What if removing repetitive busywork —
the stuff that quietly clogs your mental bandwidth —
gave you more space for intuition, clarity, and your best thinking?

What if you didn’t lose sovereignty by using better tools —
but gained leverage?

The Real Divide: Agency vs Comfort

People with agency and AI mastery will thrive.
People defending old ways of working will fall behind.

AI rewards people who:

• experiment without being told

• learn in public

• adapt fast

Bitcoin employers told us the same thing in our 2025 Annual Survey.

Bitcoin has always selected for agency.

AI just accelerates that filter.

If you take only one thing from this:
don’t wait until AI feels comfortable. Start while it still feels awkward.

What To Do Now (Practical, Not Theoretical)

1. Train your attention

Notice one repetitive or annoying task you do regularly — in work or life — and try to eliminate it with AI.

Explore vibe-coding apps like Replit, Lovable, Manus, or similar.
You don’t need to pick “the best one”.
You just need to start.

2. Build a tiny thing

Don’t binge AI content.

Open an app.
Type a prompt.
See what happens.
Refine.

Build:

• a tiny tool

• a dashboard

• a workflow

• a bot

• a helper script

Useless is fine.
Finished beats perfect.

When Manus first came out, I built the world’s most minimalist hashtag-based to-do list.

It didn’t work.
It typed words backwards.

It was useless. But that wasn’t the point.

The point was to get started. To demonstrate — to myself — what might be possible if I kept going.

3. Think like a generalist founder

Ask yourself daily:

• What feels broken?

• What’s unnecessarily manual?

• What workaround do people accept — but secretly hate?

That’s where opportunities live now.

And very often,
that’s where your future job is hiding.

The Bitvocation Angle

Here’s the upside.

Bitcoiners are unusually well positioned for this shift.

You already:

• question systems

• value sovereignty

• build outside institutions

• learn in public and document proof of work

• adapt faster than most

AI is not the enemy of Bitcoin careers.

It’s a multiplier — if you use it.

Remember: you can just build things.

PS:
If you’ve been building AI agents, tools, or automation flows in your spare time and you’re looking for a real-world use case to turn it into visible proof of work for your CV — check out our BTX programme.

Watch the full interview with Amjad here (highly recommended):

We’re happy to present the second edition of the Bitvocation Annual Bitcoin Job Market Report.

When we published our first report a year ago, Bitvocation was still young — a fast-growing job feed, a Telegram group, and a conviction that the Bitcoin job market could be more transparent, more efficient, and more human.

Since then, Bitvocation has grown — and so has our understanding of what the Bitcoin job market actually needs.

Today, we’re building toward something bigger: human infrastructure for the Bitcoin economy, powered by people, data, and signal.

This year, our work took us deeper into the human side of Bitcoin careers.

Through our community, our datasets, and countless conversations, one thing became clear:

People aren’t leaving fiat jobs because they want to “work in tech.”
They’re leaving because they want to work in alignment.

They’re looking for freedom, sovereignty, purpose, and a mission that actually matters.
And they want to build alongside others who feel the same way.

Our mission remains the same.

What has changed is the clarity with which we understand the role we’re playing — and how that clarity has shaped our vision.

⭐️ Mission

To make the Bitcoin job market transparent, human-centered, data-driven, and accessible — so Bitcoin Professionals can build meaningful careers, and Bitcoin companies can find talent that truly understands and contributes to the mission.

⭐️ Vision

A global resource platform and digital Bitcoin Circular Economy for careers — where talent and sats flow, and people thrive doing work they believe in.

We are not just a job platform.
We are not recruiters or headhunters.

We’re building infrastructure for:

• Bitcoin companies looking for truly Bitcoin-aligned talent

• Bitcoin Professionals seeking meaningful, mission-driven work

• Investors who want to understand where talent and innovation are moving

• Journalists and researchers who need reliable Bitcoin job market data

• Students and early-career Bitcoiners entering the ecosystem

And most importantly, we’re building this for the humans behind Bitcoin.

Without this human layer, the network doesn’t grow.
Without talent, adoption doesn’t scale.
Without people, Bitcoin is just code.

This report is our contribution to mapping that human landscape.

Inside, you’ll find the most complete Bitcoin job dataset we’ve produced so far — alongside new insights into hiring patterns, employer expectations, and the lived experience of Bitcoin Professionals navigating today’s job market.

View the Report Here

We hope this report helps you — whether you’re hiring, job searching, investing, building, or researching — better understand the human side of Bitcoin’s growth.

Please share it with your friends in our industry!

With gratitude and excitement for the year ahead,

Anja Schuetz
Founder, Bitvocation

Before diving in, an important caveat: this data is anecdotal. Our sample was small (fewer than 20 participants) and deeply Bitcoin-native. Builders have no time to fill in surveys 🙂 so this is not a statistically representative snapshot of the entire Bitcoin job market.

That said, the repetition of themes was striking — and offered a clear signal for anyone who wants to build a career in Bitcoin.

The Hiring Climate: More Applicants, Higher Standards

Whether hiring felt “easy” or “hard” in 2025 depended entirely on the role.

Several employers reported being flooded with applicants. At the same time, truly specialized roles remained difficult to fill. Rust developers, Bitcoin Core engineers, and Lightning Network experts continued to be scarce. High-signal talent in these areas was still the bottleneck.

Beyond engineering, there was a growing shortage of Bitcoin-native non-technical professionals. Employers repeatedly pointed to the need for marketers, growth leads, and operators who could translate deeply technical concepts into clear narratives — without diluting them or slipping into “crypto” language.

Being good at marketing isn’t enough. Being fluent in Bitcoin culture matters.

The Core Requirement: Agency

If one word dominated the 2025 survey responses, it was agency.

Not experience.
Not years in the industry.
Agency.

Employers consistently said they were not looking for people who waited for instructions. They were looking for people who took ownership — especially in early-stage environments where clarity was limited and playbooks rarely existed.

“I am missing agency — people actually being interested in what they work on and being motivated.”

Team Lead, Bitcoin Tech Startup

In Bitcoin startups, agency showed up as:

• a can-do attitude

• a tinkering mentality

• the willingness to figure things out without perfect specs

• and the ability to ship in imperfect conditions

At Bitvocation, we see agency closely tied to findability. Candidates with agency don’t just apply for jobs — they focus on becoming visible nodes in the network. They build relationships, show up at conferences, contribute publicly, and make it easier for opportunities to find them.

Agency isn’t a personality trait. It’s a behavior - and it can be intentionally adopted.

Proof of Work Is the Real Resume

One message came through clearly in 2025: the generic CV matters less and less.

What employers trust is Proof of Work.

That includes open-source contributions, grassroots initiatives, public writing or speaking, and any tangible signal that shows real understanding of Bitcoin — not just familiarity.

“Treat your CV as a base only… be visible and known enough to be suggested for a particular job; do your Proof of Work.”

Şelale, Bitcoin Filmfest

The strongest candidates are those who can demonstrate how their existing professional wins solve real problems for Bitcoin companies today.

Self-custody, continuous learning, and skin in the game frequently carried more weight than traditional credentials.

AI: Literacy Without Laziness

AI played an increasingly visible role in 2025. Many companies automated routine tasks, while others introduced new AI-adjacent roles.

AI literacy became expected.
AI dependency did not.

“I can teach a good dev without AI skills how to use AI within a week. Teaching a bad dev with AI skills how to write good code will take ages.”

Lead Developer, Bitcoin Startup

Several employers warned explicitly against using AI to outsource personality — especially in cover letters and applications. In an industry that values agency and authenticity, generic AI-generated applications are often seen as a red flag.

AI works best as a multiplier of thinking, not a replacement for it.

The Bitcoin-Native Lifestyle

For many companies, working in Bitcoin in 2025 meant living in Bitcoin — not necessarily being paid fully in BTC, but being an experienced user of Bitcoin and its technology, and actively immersed in the Bitcoin community.

Cultural and ethos alignment are often non-negotiable, especially for leadership or community-facing roles.

What 2025 Taught Us Going Into 2026

Looking back, most employers described 2025 as a year of selective growth. Expansion was expected — but standards were rising.

“Bitcoin changes fast. Always be networking and planning for your next job.”

Ed Juline, Bitcoin Treasuries Media

In practice, agency often showed up long before a job offer — through visibility, proof of work, and being an active node in the Bitcoin network.

The candidates who stood out in 2025 were those who combined professional competence with Bitcoin ethos — and who demonstrated, through action, that they had the agency to help build the future of money and take ownership of their own careers.

This article expands on the data and methodology behind our 2025 Annual Bitcoin Job Market Report. View the full report here.

We’re not.

We don’t do headhunting, and we don’t collect CVs in a database.

What we are building is a Bitcoin talent pool.

Bitcoin startups don’t lack candidates.

What they often lack is access to the right ones — people with deep Bitcoin culture alignment, at a price they can actually afford.

Traditional headhunters charge 20–30% of annual salary, which is rarely realistic for early-stage teams. Meanwhile, hiring via LinkedIn or job boards is noisy, time-consuming, and poorly optimized for Bitcoin culture fit.

That’s why Bitvocation is building a Strategic Bitcoiners Reserve: a high-signal talent pool and a practical first point of contact for Bitcoin startups when they’re hiring.

This allows founders to access Bitcoin-aligned professionals at a far lower cost than traditional recruitment.

If we have the right person, we save founders time, energy, and money.
If we don’t, they can continue their search through the usual channels.

We don’t try to replace every hiring channel.
We aim to be the highest-signal, lowest-friction starting point.

How We Build a Strategic Bitcoiners Reserve

The POW Lab is where this reserve is formed.
POW, of course, stands for Proof of Work.

The POW Lab is a private, high-touch environment where Bitcoin professionals spend time together over months, not weeks. We don’t just review profiles — we hang out with our members.

Inside the POW Lab Pro Telegram group, we see:

• how people think and communicate

• what they contribute

• how much ownership and agency they naturally take

In some cases, POW Lab members even join the Bitvocation team temporarily through our BTX programme. This allows us to collaborate directly and experience first-hand what it’s actually like to work with them.

That level of proximity can’t be replicated by CV screening or interviews alone.

Several members have found their first Bitcoin job this way — by being visible, useful, and trusted over time.

Skin in the Game: The POW Lab is a Membership

POW Lab members don’t join casually.
Access to the POW Lab is paid, and members pay in sats.

That matters for two reasons.

First, it’s a seriousness filter. Paying sats signals genuine commitment to building a Bitcoin career, not just casual or opportunistic interest.

Second, it’s a practical competence filter. Members need to know how to:

• make a Lightning payment

• actually use Bitcoin as money

That alone removes a surprising amount of noise.

This approach helps us maintain high signal and trust — both for candidate recommendations and for the community itself. People don’t just join the POW Lab to find opportunities; they join to spend time with other Bitcoiners.

For this reason, the POW Lab community has grown slowly but steadily, and we’ll likely cap POW Lab Pro at around 100 members to preserve its quality and intimacy.

This does not mean our talent pool is capped.

With POW Lab Lite, Bitcoiners can join our talent database without all POW Lab Pro benefits — allowing the Strategic Bitcoiners Reserve to grow while the core community stays small and high-trust.

Join the POW Lab here

Why We Don’t Use CVs

Members of our talent pool don’t join by uploading a résumé.

Instead, they enter by answering 21 detailed questions covering:

• values and beliefs

• professional background and expertise

• motivation for working in Bitcoin

• ways of working and decision-making

• long-term direction

This provides far more meaningful signal than a CV ever could. It also gives members clarity—and a better way to articulate what they’re actually looking for.

A résumé shows where someone has been.
Our intake shows why they’re here and how they think.

That’s what makes recommendations so efficient.

When Bitcoin founders approach us for talent:

• often, someone is already top of mind

• otherwise, we can quickly consult our talent database and identify strong matches based on real context — not keyword matching

We either have the right person — or we don’t.
And if we don’t, we say so.

The POW Lab Talent Pool: Bitcoiners With Agency, Not Just Job Seekers

At the time of writing, the POW Lab Pro community consists of roughly 50 members.

We don’t call them job seekers. We call them career builders.

Most are currently successful in fiat careers, but they are Bitcoiners through and through — culturally aligned, deeply involved in the Bitcoin ecosystem, and intentionally preparing for a long-term transition into Bitcoin-native work.

They don’t join the POW Lab to apply for jobs.

They join to align their career with Bitcoin by:

• building proof of work and their Bitcoin network

• contributing to Bitcoin projects

• running nodes, side hustles, meetups, and businesses

Through their own efforts, the connections inside the POW Lab, and our guidance, members make themselves increasingly findable by founders and recruiters. They don’t rely on Bitvocation to “place” them in roles — we equip them with the tools, context, and network to create opportunities themselves.

And yes — most of them are also available for hire by Bitcoin startups looking for people with agency, ownership, and genuine culture fit.

That’s what makes the POW Lab a Strategic Bitcoiners Reserve, not just a talent database.

Join the POW Lab here

Who’s in the POW Lab?

The POW Lab brings together Bitcoiners from across industries and geographies, united by strong Bitcoin culture fit and high agency.

Most members are non-developers seeking remote roles, with backgrounds spanning finance, engineering, operations, and communication. They come from demanding, high-stakes environments where responsibility, ownership, and competence are non-negotiable.

Skills That Actually Matter to Bitcoin Startups

Across the POW Lab, members collectively cover the full lifecycle of a Bitcoin company — from technical infrastructure and operations to compliance, go-to-market, and growth.

This includes engineering and systems thinking, operational and risk expertise, business development, and modern AI-assisted workflows.

Bitcoin startups don’t need people who wait for instructions.
They need people who figure things out.

That’s the default mode inside the POW Lab.

Why They Choose Bitcoin (and Leave Fiat Behind)

Most POW Lab members didn’t stumble into Bitcoin casually. Their career shift is the result of years of study, conviction, and personal proof of work.

Three motivations come up again and again.

1. Financial Sovereignty & Truth

Many have witnessed the fragility of the legacy system firsthand — inflation, bank failures, opaque decision-making. Bitcoin’s fixed supply and transparency represent honest weights and measures in contrast.

2. Proof of Work as a Life Philosophy

Bitcoin’s meritocracy resonates deeply. Members value showing their work, taking ownership, and being accountable for outcomes — not navigating internal politics or rent-seeking structures.

3. Building Something That Lasts

For many, working in Bitcoin is about legacy. Building tools, infrastructure, and systems that help the next generation live more sovereign lives. This isn’t a short-term career move — it’s a long-term commitment.

Join the POW Lab here

The POW Lab as a Signal Layer

The POW Lab functions as a signal layer for the Bitcoin industry.

It’s a place where Bitcoin-aligned professionals build reputation, relationships, and proof of work — long before a job title enters the conversation.

For Bitcoin founders, this means:

• direct access to Bitcoiners like you

• people already aligned with the mission and ready to contribute

• professionals who don’t need to be “orange-pilled” before they can be effective

For Bitcoiners considering the leap:

• you don’t have to quit your fiat job first

• you can build credibility, visibility, and optionality while still employed

• you join a room of peers who are already walking the same path

A Quiet Advantage for Bitcoin Startups

Any startup looking for Bitcoiners with agency and genuine culture fit will find strong matches inside the POW Lab.

Not because we optimize for volume —
but because we optimize for alignment.

If you’re building in Bitcoin and want access to people who think in long time horizons, understand the mission, and can operate without a playbook, the POW Lab talent pool is designed for exactly that.

And if you’re a Bitcoiner in a fiat career, quietly building skills and conviction and wondering where you’d actually belong —

you’ll feel at home here.

This article expands on the data and methodology behind our 2025 Annual Bitcoin Job Market Report. View the full report here.