Blockchain Developer Salary – Every Skill Level (Fall 2022)

Blockchain development is one of the hottest career paths within the Web3 jobs market in 2022. With the blockchain’s increased adoption, Web3’s demand for coding skills is also growing. If you are interested in becoming a developer, you may be wondering—what is the blockchain developer’s salary? And what are the types of coding jobs in web3 companies?

In this guide, we’ll tell you what a typical blockchain developer makes. We’ll also cover what exactly a blockchain developer does, the types of jobs in the sector, and whether blockchain development is a good career. So without further ado, let’s dive right in!

What is the blockchain?

For the uninitiated, a blockchain is a decentralised, distributed database used to store and organise digital information. While blockchains have a range of applications, they are widely known as the core technology behind crypto and NFTs.

What does a blockchain developer do?

First things first—what exactly does it mean to be a blockchain developer? Essentially, blockchain development involves developing, maintaining, and designing blockchain applications and protocols. In other words, a blockchain developer uses blockchain technology to create applications, such as decentralised applications (dApps) and smart contracts. 

The latter is especially important in the context of NFTs. In short, smart contracts are digital contracts written as code and stored on the blockchain. They are designed to automatically execute the terms of the agreement between the different parties involved. This is just one example of the innovative applications of blockchain development. 

Is blockchain developer a good career in 2022?

While still in its infancy, blockchain is making its way across a host of industries. This includes banking and financial services, healthcare, retail, IT, and automotive, to name a few. In fact, reports predict the global blockchain technology market to be worth $69 billion by 2030, from around 4.8 billion in 2021. As a result, naturally, the demand for blockchain developers is also soaring.

So, if you are looking for a lucrative career in a growing industry, blockchain is definitely a great tech career path to go for. As with most emerging job sectors, in blockchain too, there is a lack of qualified and skilled professionals. Therefore, you have the perfect opportunity to utilise this dearth and effectively advance your career. 

How much can a blockchain developer make?

Indeed, an important factor of any career path is the juicy bit: How much will I get paid? While there are many factors to consider, let’s break it down. So, what exactly is the blockchain developer’s salary?

Reportedly, beginners with less than one year of experience can likely expect a blockchain developer salary of up to $120,000 per year. In contrast, experienced developers with 2-4 years of software experience and under a year of blockchain technology experience could expect around $124,000 per year.

On the other hand, more advanced developers with 2-4 years of software experience could earn an annual salary of around $143,000. Finally, those with around 6-10 years of software experience and between 2 and 4 years of blockchain technology experience earn much more. Often, it’s around $153,000 per year.

To summarise, a Blockchain Developer’s salary usually hits around $100k per year.  The minimum base salary weighs in around $50k and the top maximum stands at approximately $180k.

Developer Salaries by Continent

While blockchain developers usually make good money worldwide, some places are more generous towards coding than others.

While this is just a ballpark measure, these stats will give you an idea of the differing wages for web3 devs.

Types of blockchain dev jobs

To be a good developer, you will want to have good knowledge of both Data structures and cryptography. Broadly speaking, there are two types of blockchain developer jobs.

Core blockchain developer role and responsibilities: Those who develop and maintain the architecture and security of blockchain systems. To explain, they design protocols, implement different blockchain features and monitor the network.

Blockchain software developer role and responsibilities: Blockchain Software developers create and amend applications on already existing networks. This means they develop the front or back end of dApps, smart contracts, APIs, and more. 

However, that’s an oversimplification. In reality, the possibilities are almost endless for developers in web3.

5 Examples of  Web3 coding jobs

While we couldn’t possibly mention them all, here’s a short list of jobs you could take up in web3 coding.

1. NFT Smart Contract Developer

Smart contract developers design, write, test-run, and deploy smart contracts. In short, they are the wizards behind your NFT project. They set the conditions of how that token will react on the blockchain using code.

2. Fungible token smart contract developer

Remember your favourite shitcoin? Well, a developer made that too. Creating tokens on the blockchain can be a lucrative business.  Maybe you’ll work for the next DogeCoin. Web3 companies launching tokens need coding skills and often have jobs displayed on Linkedin.

3. NFT Games and Metaverses

Blockchain games are on the rise and consequently so are blockchain game developer’s job opportunities . Ever wanted to work on a game? Now might be your chance. Web3 and metaverse is desperate for competent developers. Whether game mechanics is your forte, or you prefer just working on bug fixes, there are plenty of web3 coding jobs in game development.

4. Crypto Exchange Engineering

Coding for a crypto exchange involves; Bug Fixing, Crypto security and much more. At the heart of the crypto industry, exchanges provide countless jobs to web3 professionals. Of course, that includes dev jobs, meaning you’ll never be out of work.

5. Bug Bounties

While it’s not a job, per se, you can also make money with Bug bounties. Basically, you spend your time finding holes in web3 project’s security, and often they will pay you a nice bounty. However, this is not guaranteed and some white hat hackers have been left holding an empty bag after an incredibly dangerous discovery.

How to become a blockchain developer

If you’re interested in coding in a web3 company, start by learning the basics. Gradually, you can move on to coding, smart contracts, and other advanced areas. Remember, your blockchain developer salary will heavily depend on your skill set. So, get started as soon as you can!

If the salary of a blockchain developer piqued your interest , it’s time to assess your skills and upskill yourself. At the most basic level, you will need:

• Adequate knowledge in a range of computer science 
• Good mathematical ability
• Knowledge of blockchain architecture, such as different consensus protocols. 

Web3 Dev Courses for Beginners

Then—obviously—you will have to know programming. To keep it short, here’s our step-by-step guide to success:

1. Start blockchain developer courses to learn the basics
2. Start to code. Learn the basic languages used for coding in web3. Beware, different blockchains use different languages.
3. Practice makes perfect
4. Get a job as a developer in web3′

It really can be that easy. But you’ll have to put the work in.

What Programming languages do blockchain developers use?

Firstly, for any coding job, it’s always a plus to learn a couple of popular programming languages such as Python and NodeJS. For the front end, web3 developers often use React and Next js as their top coding languages. That being said, there are many more tools a developer can have up their sleeve. It’s down to you to do the research on web3 coding jobs you might like to do.

Of course, you’ll want to attack the language of your chosen chain. For Ethereum and Polygon, that’s Solidity. Solidity is extremely common for smart contract development. Then, Solana uses more traditional coding languages like C and Rust. Learning these languages is easy using online resources. There’s plenty of reading material on each of these – your web3 coding job is just some study away.

In conclusion, a blockchain developer is a great job with a good salary, but it might not be so easy to get. Those with programming knowledge may already have the skills to succeed. Meanwhile, beginners should start with caution – once it’s on-chain, it’s on there forever. That’s why good coding is so well paid.  Not only that, the attitude in the coding community towards web3 is ever changing. One day, they may even accept us as their own.