Why Marketing Is the Hottest Hire in Crypto Right Now

Why Marketing Is the Hottest Hire in Crypto Right Now

Over the past 90 days, we analysed 221 of our live vacancies across the crypto space.

And the most in-demand role?

Marketing.

Yes, more than smart contract engineers. More than front-end devs. More than business development. Marketing took the top spot.

And within those roles, a pattern emerged:
“X amount of followers.”
“Someone with a voice.”
“Someone who isn’t afraid to be the new face of our product.”

So why is marketing the hottest hire in Web3 right now – and why is an industry that’s built on anonymity suddenly making personal brand a requirement?

To understand the shift, you have to understand the current state of crypto.

The Crypto Landscape: We Were Building, Now We’re Selling

Momentum is back in Web3. And some projects have managed to capture that much-coveted mindshare of the crypto audience.

Projects with deep pockets are going big on ‘Yap campaigns’ – pay-to-play pushes on platforms like Kaito or Cookie3, where brands pay verified KOLs (key opinion leaders) to tweet, talk about, or “yap” about their project.

It’s influencer marketing for crypto – at scale.

And while it drives reach quickly, it’s not cheap. It favours already-funded projects who can afford to flood the feed.

Then there are airdrops.
Take Hyperliquid. they gained phenomenal support and a wave of new users by airdropping over $7 billion worth of HYPE tokens to early users. It rewarded loyalty, drove huge buzz, and put them front and centre in the crypto conversation.

Phantom Wallet, Safe, and Rainbow have also leaned hard into community-led growth and strong UX-driven comms.

Even Optimism and Polygon have reworked their GTM strategies, pushing new narratives to stand out in a crowded L2 space.

The result?

Projects are finally accepting that great tech alone doesn’t drive traction.

You need a voice. A story. A reason to care.

Not Just Marketers – Narrators and KOLs

We’re seeing a clear trend: founders want marketers with personal brands.

They’re not hiring someone to sit behind a dashboard and optimise ads.

They want someone who can own the narrative.
Host Twitter Spaces.
Show up at events.
Get quoted on podcasts.
Be the face of the brand.

In crypto, being a CMO today means being public-facing, strategic, and loud (in the best way).

And for early-stage teams without big airdrops or pay-to-play campaign budgets, a CMO with a strong personal brand is a distribution hack.

They bring:

✅ Established networks: Access to real audiences across X, Farcaster, Discord and more
✅ Authentic voice: They shape the narrative, not just repeat it
✅ Community trust: Instant credibility in a trust-sceptical industry

In short, they’re part brand builder, part ambassador, part KOL.

So, How Do We Actually Find These Candidates?

Finding a marketer with a strong personal brand, real on-chain knowledge, and the ability to front a project isn’t easy – but it’s what we do.

Here’s how:

🧠 We don’t just search CVs – we search timelines
We spend time on Crypto Twitter, Farcaster, Telegram – wherever the real conversations are happening.
If someone’s shaping narratives and building community in public, we notice.

🔍 We look beyond job titles
Some of the best candidates don’t have “CMO” in their title – yet.
They might be leading growth at a DAO, building a high-signal newsletter, or running a meme account with insane reach. We look at impact, not labels.

🧩 We vet for context
Voice matters – but only if it’s backed by understanding.
We screen for people who get the tech (rollups, restaking, TGE) and can talk about it clearly, without jargon.

🤝 We already know them
We’ve placed them. Hired them. Worked with them.
Across DeFi, infra, L1s, NFTs we’ve built the network, and we know who’s quietly (or loudly) crushing it.

Hiring a marketing lead in crypto isn’t about finding someone who looks good on paper.
It’s about someone who has trust, attention, and context, and knows how to use all three.

Final Thoughts

Marketing has always mattered. But in Web3, it’s evolved into something else entirely – part KOL, part educator, part brand ambassador.

Right now, the best projects understand that attention is currency.
And the best marketers don’t just bring skills, they bring distribution, credibility, and a voice that cuts through the noise.

So whether you’re a stealth startup preparing to launch, or a protocol looking to scale, make sure you’re hiring for what the role actually demands today, not what it meant two years ago.

Need help finding a marketer who actually moves the needle?

We’ve placed Heads of Marketing, CMOs and Growth Leads across DeFi, L1s, infra, and NFTs.

Drop us a message and let’s find the voice of your brand.