Today, I will reveal what are the most profitable niches in blockchain development. I will break down each niche and show you exactly how to position yourself.
Introduction
The best way to stay poor and unemployed is to be a generalist. The blockchain space is huge. If you just describe yourself as a Blockchain developer, it doesn’t mean much.
There are 100’s of sub-niche. But not all niches are equally profitable.
After working with hundreds of developers and companies, I have ve identified the most lucrative opportunities. I will show you where the real money is, what skills you need, and how to position yourself. Plus, you’ll get a solid strategy to pick your specialization without wasting time.
Niche 1: DeFi
The first niche is DeFi:
- DeFi or decentralized is the first use case of Blockchain right now.
- Your job as a DeFi developer will be to design and code DeFi protocols, with a heavy emphasis on smart contract development.
- As a DeFi specialist, you can earn anywhere between $100k to $250k.
You can stand out if you have a technical background, plus some knowledge in DeFi. The absolute best is if you worked in the finance industry as a developer, DeFi projects will love you. It can also help if you are knowledgeable in Finance and crypto market.
It’s also very valuable if you are knowledgeable in smart contract security. DeFi protocols want to make sure that you know how to create safe smart contract code.
The best way to specialize in DeFi is to identify a growing trend, and specialize in it:
- You pick the top protocol of this category
- Then you study their smart contracts on Github. Make sure you understand how they works
- Then build a project that integrate with this protocol, to show that you understand it.
In the DeFi industry, there are many different projects. Which one should you pick?
Most protocols are just forks of other protocols. Only a few protocols really innovate and create something new. You should focus on these few projects that really innovate.
And right now, the hottest protocol is called Polymarket. Polymarket is a prediction market. It got famous during the US election for accurately predicting the winner. They raised $70M and are they are hiring a lot developers.
But it’s not just Polymarket. Polymarket set in motion a new trend. Prediction markets. Right now, there are dozens of other protocols that try to be the next big prediction markets. Some of them are forks of Polymarket, and some are different.
So if you become a specialist in Polymarket, you will make yourself really attractive to all these companies.
Niche 2: Security & Auditing
The next niche is security.
Every years, hackers steal billions of dollars from smart contracts.
As a security expert, your job will be to keep smart contract safe. You do this by studying smart contracts to find security vulnerabilities, so that we can fix them. This what we call a smart contract audit.
This is the highest paid in Blockchain. Blockchain companies pay between $200k to $400k for security experts. And it keeps growing. Top security auditors are in very high demand.
It can help if you have a background in smart contract development or web2 security. But you can also start from scratch.
To become a security specialist, you have to:
- Learn smart contract development
- Learn audit tools, like Slither or Mythril
- Learn typical smart contract vulnerabilities, and how to fix them
- Study smart contract hacks
- Participate in competitive audits where you audit smart contracts with other security auditors
- And eventually do your own audit
Niche 3: Trading Bots & MEV
The next niche for Blockchain developers is Crypto trading bots and MEV.
Your job as a MEV specialist is either to create trading bot, or make sure a smart contract is protect against trading bot.
The companies that hire MEV specialists are
- hedge funds that want to run trading bots
- DeFi protocols that want to make sure they are protect against MEV
- or security auditors that want to make sure their customers are protected against MEV.
There are 2 ways t make money as a MEV specialist.
- You can either make money from your own trading bots. It can go really high. Some people make 6 figure per month running their trading bot. But it’s not easy.
- Or you can work as a MEV specialist for a company. In this case you can make anywhere between $150k to $250k.
To become a MEV specialist, you will need to understand
- Solidity
- The EVM, the part of the Blockchain that processes Solidity code
- Mempool – That’s the list of pending transactions in the Blockchain
- Trading APIs of centralized exchanges, like Binance or Coinbase
- Gas optimization, as transaction fees can make your trading bot not profitable
- Low-level languages, like Go or Rust, as your trading bot needs to be fast
- The most popular DeFi protocols, as you will write code that use these protocols
Here are couple of examples of product that will make as
- Building arbitrage bots between DEXes
- Creating sandwich trading bots
- Developing flashbots integrations
- Flash loan trading bots
Niche 4: Smart Contract Development
The next way to specialize is smart contract development:
- Your job is to design and code smart contracts. For example, you can create DeFi or NFT protocols.
As a smart contract developer, you can make anywhere between $100 to $300k per year.
To become a smart contract developer, you have to study:
- Solidity, the language for smart contracts
- Smart contract frameworks, like Foundry Gas optimization
- How the Blockchain work
- The EVM
- Security, as smart contract developrs are expected to produce safe code
- Token and NFT standards like ERC20, or ERC721
- DeFi and NFT, as you will be expected to understand the main protocols
Niche 5: Fullstack Development
The next way to specialize is Fullstack Blockchain development.
As a Fullstack Blockchain developer, you either have to
- Build a whole Blockchain application, frontend plus smart contract
- Or just a frontend, that integrates with a smart contract. Usually that’s what people mean by fullstack Blockchain developer
As a fullstack Blockchain developer, you can make anywhere between $100k to $200k per year.
It’s a great starting point for web2 developers who want to transition to Blockchain.
You will have to master all the technologies of web2, like
- html
- css
- Javascript
- React
As well as have a basic understanding of smart contract development, like Solidity.
And you will also have to learn how to interface with smart contracts, using wallets like Metamask, and Blockchain APIs like Infura or Quicknode.
Specialization Strategy
Ok, so how can you chose which specialization is for you?
First, you have to see where you are starting from. There are some trajectory that are more or less easy:
- For example, if you are a web2 developer, the easiest path is to become a Fullstack Blockchain developer.
- If you are a web2 security specialist, the easiest path is to become a web3 security auditor.
But your starting point shouldn’t be the only criteria. For example, If you are a web2 developer and you really want to be a security auditor, just go for it. Just be aware that compared to web2 auditors, you will have to work harder, that’s it.
Just make sure you don’t only consider the money. You need to be actually interested in what you do.
When you specialize, there are 2 dimensions:
- One is the technical specialization, like Fullstack Blockchain development, or Smart contract development
- The other is the use case, like DeFi
It’s best to combine these specialization: For example, you can be a Fullstack Blockchain developer specialized in DeFi, and not just a Fullstack Blockchain developer.
The more specific, the less your target market, but the more attractive you become for this target market.
Usually, it’s a better than having a larger target market, but being less attractive.
So how can you acquire the skills for these different niche?
The best way is to challenge yourself with projects.
I am building a brand new Blockchain education platform, the 30 day academy. It will be released for Black Friday on November 29th.
To get the special Black Friday deal of the launch event, register with this link.
That’s it for today, bye!
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