TechFlowPost’s Q2 2026 Web3 hiring report says the market is contracting and short on talent at the same time. Its main conclusion is blunt: whatever path job seekers choose, they now need to prepare AI skills as part of the job requirement.
Written by Hickerzed and Xunye, the report compares seven external industry studies with Moledao platform application data for Q2 2026. That comparison points to a mismatch that the report says has not received much attention: the functions with the most vacancies are not attracting applications at the same pace, while the functions drawing the fiercest applicant competition have relatively limited job supply.
More than 7,000 layoffs recorded across Web3 in 2026
Citing CryptoJobsList’s “Layoffs Report 2026,” the report says more than 40 Web3 companies have announced layoffs this year, affecting more than 7,000 people in total. Coinbase and Kraken both reduced headcount, and on July 23 BitMEX said it would fully shut down its trading business in September.
The report places that pullback alongside the market downturn. Bitcoin fell from its all-time high of about $126,200 in October 2025 to a range of $60,000 to $64,000 by the end of July 2026, nearly halving in value, with industry retrenchment unfolding on a similar timeline.
At the company level, Coinbase said on May 5 that it would cut about 700 employees, or 14% of its workforce. According to The Block, CEO Brian Armstrong described the move in an internal letter as part of an “AI-native” transition. Kraken cut 150 staff in the same month, and the Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 people on June 23.
The report says companies have offered similar explanations in their layoff notices: flattening management and eliminating overlapping roles. Coinbase explicitly said it would remove “pure manager” positions and move toward a “player-coach” model. Based on the wording of those announcements, the report says the reductions were concentrated more at the organizational layer, while core technical roles were less affected.
Hiring is shrinking unevenly, with engineering still leading demand
Tiger Research’s count of 2,932 active roles in H1 2026 showed engineering remained the biggest hiring function at 34.1%, followed by Compliance/Legal at 10.4%. Demand in those two areas was relatively steady. Gaming/NFT roles accounted for just 2.4%, making that segment the clearest area of contraction.
The report notes that the 34.1% figure comes from Tiger Research’s broader market sample, which differs from the 46.0% engineering share later cited from Moledao’s platform-level dataset.
At the same time, AI skills are moving into the standard job description. The share of positions requiring AI skills rose from 23% at the start of 2025 to 53.1% in March 2026, with separate figures from CryptoJobsList and Tiger Research pointing in the same direction. On geography, Tiger Research identified Singapore as one of the more concentrated office-hiring locations in the first half of 2026.
Salaries are still rising, with a clear premium for AI-related roles
Gate Research data cited in the report says average pay for global crypto workers rose about 18% in 2026. The spread between functions remains wide. Quant developers could earn as much as $200k, while junior developers were around $77k, close to a threefold gap.
AI capability is tied to higher compensation as well. CryptoJobsList data in the report puts average pay for mid-level AI-related roles at $115k, versus $95k for non-AI roles, a 21.1% premium. The report says the direction of travel is consistent on both sides: AI requirements are appearing in more job listings, and pay premiums are also widening.
Moledao data shows a mismatch between job supply and candidate attention
The report argues that broad market studies do not fully answer a practical question: are applicants actually pursuing the jobs that are being posted? Using Moledao’s Q2 2026 data, it compares each function’s share of job listings, representing hiring demand, with its share of applications, representing applicant competition.
It then divides the two to produce an application concentration index. A reading above 1 means candidates are relatively concentrated and jobs are relatively scarce. A reading below 1 means candidate attention is trailing job supply, pointing to a real hiring gap. The report adds that technical roles may show lower readings partly because of stronger self-selection, though it says that does not change the directional takeaway.
Engineering had the largest hiring demand on Moledao at 46.0% of listed roles, but only 27.1% of applications, producing an application concentration index of 0.6x, the lowest among major functions. The report calls that the clearest sign of talent scarcity this quarter. Security showed a similar pattern at 0.9x, though less pronounced.
At the other end, candidate competition was heavier in BD, PM, and Compliance/HR/Ops. BD posted an index of 2.4x, the most competitive track for applicants. PM came in at 1.4x. Compliance/HR/Ops was at 1.2x, with relatively milder competition, but its job share still reached 27.9%, making it the largest function outside engineering. For employers, the report says, the higher the index, the easier it is to receive applications after posting a role.
The report also says multiple recruiting firms described a similar pattern in their 2026 market commentary. Specialized technical roles such as security auditors, ZK engineers, and Rust developers remain in short supply globally, which aligns with Moledao’s finding that candidate attention in engineering is running below job supply.
Viewed together, the report says, layoffs and shortages are not contradictory. They are two sides of the same structural adjustment: companies are cutting management layers and duplicated functions while still competing for specialized technical talent.
What the report says for job seekers
For candidates, the report says engineering is where hiring demand is strongest and applicant attention is relatively thin, meaning actual competition may be lower than the raw volume of openings suggests. It attaches one condition to that view: candidates need the specialized skills the market wants now. Security auditing, ZK, and Rust are described as the clearest areas of unmet demand.
BD and PM present a different setup. Openings are limited and applicants are heavily concentrated, so generic resumes struggle to stand out. The report says candidates need sharper specialization and verifiable project records to separate themselves. It adds that several hiring teams reported a large quality gap between the top and bottom tiers of resumes they receive for BD and PM roles.
Candidates with backgrounds in Compliance/HR/Ops or Security also have identifiable openings, according to the report. The former is the largest non-engineering hiring category at 27.9% of jobs, with an application concentration index of 1.2x, implying milder pressure than BD or PM. The latter sits at 0.9x, in the same under-attended range as engineering, though with a smaller gap. The report says these two tracks receive less discussion, but the balance between competition and available openings is comparatively favorable for applicants.
On AI skills, the message is direct. More than half of job descriptions already include related requirements, and a pay premium of about 20% shows how the market is pricing that capability. Whatever direction they choose, job seekers need to treat AI skills as part of the baseline requirement.
What the report says for employers
For employers, the report says engineering roles are unlikely to be filled in sufficient numbers by simply posting and waiting. Candidate attention is lagging job supply, so active outreach is necessary. Headhunters, developer community operations, and referral incentives all fall into that category.
Security hiring faces a similar issue. Its index of 0.9x shows a smaller gap than engineering, but employers relying only on passive applications may still fall short.
BD and PM roles naturally attract more applications and can also serve for brand exposure, though the report says screening costs need to be considered in advance. High-volume roles often come with wide variation in candidate quality, so employers that define screening criteria early can avoid being overwhelmed by application volume.
For Compliance/HR/Ops, the challenge is more on filtering than exposure. It is the biggest hiring category outside engineering, at 27.9% of listed roles, with an application concentration index of 1.2x. Supply is relatively ample, applicant numbers are large, and the variance in quality is wide. In that setup, the report says, setting clear selection standards is more urgent than expanding visibility.
The report also warns that AI skill requirements now cover 53.1% of openings. Companies whose job descriptions still lag on that point may lose a meaningful share of qualified candidates during screening.
Methodology and data sources
According to the report, the Moledao sample covers Q2 2026, from April through June, and is based on platform applications and job records, excluding roles posted by the platform itself.
Within the Marketing/Community category, the report further removed applications tied to a single company associated with the report, in order to reduce the effect of one source on representativeness. It also notes that the sample size is limited and the conclusions should be read as directional trends only.
External data mainly came from Tiger Research and CoinGecko’s “H1 2026 Global Crypto Hiring Market Analysis Report,” Gate Research’s “Q1 2026 Crypto Employment Trends White Paper,” CryptoJobsList’s “Layoffs Report 2026” and “The 2026 Web3 Workforce Report,” Bitget and Blockchain4Youth’s “Web3 Next-Gen Talent Intelligence Report,” web3.career’s “Crypto Salary,” and the CoinCup H1 2026 report. Because release dates and statistical methods differ across sources, the report says the specific figures should be treated as directional references.
