Hi and welcome to my session on. How do you start building a career within crypto? I'm Monica N Gwen. I am the client services manager at Beams Markets, a crypto asset brokerage and we're headquartered out of London, UK. Um So a little bit of background information about me.

I started in my previous role, I was a recruitment administrator before I started in crypto. And like many of you, I did not have any prior knowledge or experience in crypto before embarking into a Korean crypto. And um I back in 2018, I started as a, an OTC broker for a start up which was a crypto desk and being an, the only employee for a whole year, I have had to uh build the systems and processes up uh from the ground up. I had to learn everything from scratch and being so involved in all aspects of the business. This has greatly contributed to my experience and um hence why I'm presenting um this session to you today. Um So since we have a 20 minute session, I'm going to break down this session into four topics. Um So starting with, where are all the crypto jobs at what roles are available in crypto building knowledge and increasing confidence and your network is your network if we have time towards the end, um I will try my best and answer some Q and A. Um So you see the right hand side chat column on your right, there's a Q and A tab. So leave your questions there and I will try and follow that up at the end.

So, um since you, you know this, since you've made it to my crypto session today, um you know, one of the most popular first questions I get asked is um where are all the crypto jobs at? And I'm very heavily active on linkedin and I suggest you start there. Um So on linkedin, you should, yeah, just update your profile. Um First of all, uh update your CV with all your transferable skills that can be applied in, in crypto rolls, for example. Um Then you um yeah, just follow any crypto companies um the pages. Um you can follow the, the crypto companies pages and a lot of the times they update their latest vacancies on there as well. And the vacancies have like the job descriptions, company information and you know, people working at those companies. So, you know, just, just work your connections from there on um events. So um there is a crypto events calendar, online search for the crypto events, calendar, sign up to as many, you know, events as you can that is relevant to you, to what you want to do. Um Because there are crypto like Bitcoin Conference, Ethereum Conference or Fintech. So there's loads of different events that you can get involved in. Um They also have job boards on there and it's a great networking opportunity because at these events, there are the leading crypto companies.

Um So you can always, you know, approach them, ask questions, um learn from your contacts there uh groups. Um I'm involved in women in fintech uh group, uh women in Blockchain groups as well. Um So there are so many groups out there, there is no excuse to, to, to, to find them. A lot of these um communities are very active on socials, uh any social network. Um So, yeah, join them, have fun with it. Um Because it's meant to be social, then you have um newsletters. So sign up to coin market cap, um Coin Telegraph and um coin desk uh research these crypto companies listed there and um they always have a job section on these crypto companies as well. Um And um the, you know, research their projects to learn more about the, the, the Blockchain technology. Uh This is also a good resource to top up on your learning along the way as well. And then we have networking. So um reach out to all the new connections that you've made, introduce yourself, start building your relationships and stay focused though on, on what it is that you want to do because um you can easily get distracted um with all the noise out in the uh crypto market, um especially after the, the recent ball run that we've had.

So it's really important to uh stay focused and committed to, to what you want to do. And another top tip that I have is um in the UK, we have the FC A uh website and they have a list of all the registered and temporary registered um crypto operating companies in the UK. So you can easily look at that list, find out what crypto companies that are currently active um And they should be recruiting as well. So look up their job boards and find them on linkedin and apply for those roles in the US. You'd have a bit license uh register in Japan and Germany. You also have crypto registers that these crypto companies would have to be registered. Um So it's easy way to target those, those companies um which then leads to another popular question that I get asked a lot, um which is uh what roles are available in crypto. So, um yeah, you don't have to be a tech head to, to work in crypto. Um contrary to, you know, belief, so don't let you know, having no crypto uh or no knowledge, put you off applying for a role in crypto.

A lot of the crypto companies are expanding and there are all types of roles now um starting from operations, sales and marketing compliance and leadership skills and, you know, communication skills are a must. Um So, um yeah, all that crypto companies want to know is that, you know, what your specialist specialism is? Just one minute. Ok, just one minute. Sorry, close the door, please. Thank you. Um Yeah, they just want to know what your specialism is. Uh what value add you can bring into the business. Um and um that you come eager to learn um um every day and that you are a stellar team player. Um Historically, crypto companies have had a really hard time um marketing their products and services because um it's crypto has been a really hard subject to, to understand so effective, effective communication skills are a must because you're required to break down crypto into easily digestible chunks, especially when presenting and marketing to the wider public.

Um So let's imagine you've brushed up on your CV. You've updated your linkedin profile and started applying for all these crypto jobs. Um Now, where do you start with your crypto learning? So the crypto academies um are available, a lot of the large exchanges have them. Um And it's a great learning resource because they have podcasts, youtube videos and um guides um to assist you with your learning on Cryptocurrency. Um You also have online courses such as UDE and Coursera and on these courses. It's, it's really a structured way of learning.

So all these um courses are structured and most of the time by well known um universities. So it's just all packaged together for you uh to help assist you and guide you with your learning, which are great. I've done two courses myself. Um And if anyone who knows me out there knows that I love a to do list. So please take a snapshot of this screen um to help you organize your learning. Um Because um you could read all day, but sometimes you can't relate it to real world applications. So I recommend that you watch Cryptocurrency documentaries because um you can then sort of relate your reading um to visuals and that can help you further along your learning. Uh find a mentor. So I found my mentors through the women in Blockchain um social groups that I'm in.

And um you know, when you go out there networking, you will find, you know, women that are totally killing it in the market, they are very effective communicators. There are serial entrepreneurs that are killing it in their game. They're launching new projects, they are Blockchain specialists or head of compliance. Um And they all have really good skills that you can't help but admire and you want to learn from them. So approach them, ask them to be your mentor like I did. And um yeah, um they can help you plan a um a development plan and also help you with some goal setting to guide you and give you constructive um learning development plan, read and do your own research. So, um again, lots of reading through your newsletters, online articles, uh medium and do your own research, meaning find out what technology is running on the Cryptocurrency network, um what their market capitalization is. So, yeah, ask lots of questions. Um join crypto community.

So I've already mentioned some social groups. I'm in like for example, women in fintech, the bigger pie group. So there's many out there. So look them up and find your social family, attend events and network. Um So yeah, um find that online crypto events calendar. Um join up to as many meetups and events as possible and start networking there. Um Listen to webinars and ask questions. So one of the webinars I listen to is called money next and money next is pretty much traditional finance industry. But then they do touch on how the financial industry can um collaborate with cryptocurrencies and Blockchain. So it is very interesting. So listening into those talks, um you find out where the traditional industry is at in their journey with crypto and you can always ask the speakers questions as well to top up on your learning, um volunteer to gain work experience. So when you join these social communities, there are loads of projects running all of the time. Um Yeah, just ask, you know, just put yourself out there and ask, um ask these, you know, women and these project owners, like, how do you get involved? How can you learn because getting involved, um you can put all your theory, your learning into practice and you'll learn so much faster as well because you're able to apply it to real life businesses and applications.

Um I also strongly believe that you are a by-product of your environment. And um so, you know, go and find your social community immerse yourself into these communities and use your immediate resources to learn. Um Ask for help in earlier on in my um journey, crypto journey.

I was too embarrassed to ask for help to ask questions. Um I was fearing reproach or appearing stupid in front of my boss. Um And you know, that is the wrong attitude to have because um if you ask questions, don't be scared, be fearless, don't, you know, just ask those questions because it will save you so much time, effort and energy in the long run. So ask ask those questions uh relationships. So, um yeah, nurture your connections with regular touch points. Um um Find your so social community have fun with it. Get involved in on all those uh projects on offer uh transferable skills. So, update your CV with all your transferable skills that you've accumulated to date. All of this can add value to the, the role that you know, you're going to go into in the crypto world um and make your crypto interests known on your linkedin profile on your CV. Because these, these type of things will get picked up when uh recruiters look at your CV, invest in yourself. This is an ongoing learning journey uh with no end and um in an emerging industry and you are at the early stages of this nascent technology with limitless possibilities uh for real world applications. So you are definitely not late to the party. Um This concludes my presentation.

Um So please feel free to reach out to me on any of my social um mediums. Um I'm very active on linkedin and if you want to hear more about how I got into crypto and my crypto journey from the beginning, then you can read my, thank you. There is women take Global conference for allowing me to present to you today. Um I've waited all year round um for this event to happen and after the temperamental 2020 that we've just had, um I'm just super glad that we've all pulled through and made it through to this uh conference today. And I'm very grateful and honored to be here uh sharing my journey, sharing my experience uh with um as many of you as possible. And I have made it my, my mission to encourage and support and invite and include as many women into crypto. Um because um it's an exciting industry to be in, it's um ever evolving. Uh innovative um expanding, growing, interesting. There's so much to learn and that, that is one of my motivators that gets me out of the out of bed each morning, which is I'm going to learn something new. Today. I am going to meet new people, uh improve my skills, um build on my knowledge.

And um you know, you can just dedicate like 10 minutes a day, which then becomes half an hour to an hour a day of reading, topping up on your learning and all of this learning accumulates, you know. And uh yeah, it's an ongoing journey. Um So, oh yeah, just checking Q and A hopefully I don't kick myself out. Oh, so how much time approximately do you invest uh for defi learning defi learning? So, um I would say that. So currently I'm taking an online course right now. Um my online course, I try and dedicate maybe um four hours uh every weekend uh to dedicate that to my online learning course. Um But for defi it's um whatever you can squeeze in really because um there are defi groups that you can join and the D five groups um have weekly calls. So it's like an hour call every week to update you on what's happening out in the market right now. So if I can share some links to the groups that I'm about on the chat, then maybe you can um to join those as well. So please give me a moment. OK. So I found it here. So I'm just going to include it in the chat. There you go. So Crypto Canal is fantastic for beginners.

They do a presentation, an hour long presentation on um the, the, you know, the journey of money, the journey of crypto or what crypto can do. And they also do an airdrop as well. And there is also a telegram, um social learning community of Crypto Canal. Um With um another good beginners group is women in Blockchain Talks hosted by Lavinia Osborne. And it's fantastic for beginners. She has the best speakers on there where you can join and learn and find out more about the space. Um I'm also part of the bigger pie group. So the bigger pie group is a group of collective of women entrepreneurs wanting to seek investment in the Blockchain space and emerging tech. Um And there are always s super talented women uh with fantastic projects that are running and having really cool conversations about what's happening out there in the market. Uh great articles to read. Um So definitely get involved, um collaborate, um ask for help or um get involved in any of the projects that are running. Um And those communities is where I found my mentors as well. Uh Let me see. Um a question from VLI, I wanted to know how to get into crypto technical details, like development jobs. There are loads of development jobs um have you signed up to angel list, uh angel list and linkedin.

If you update your linkedin profile, update your CV, say you're looking for work in the Blockchain space. I'm recruiting. My next round of recruitment is looking for developers. So hook me up with Charly, find me on linkedin and connect with me, please. Um Janine, uh I would love to connect and possibly interview you for my podcast, creative thinking and imagination training will be key in this field. Uh Janine absolutely hooked me up on linkedin. I'm more than happy to get involved in any um any topic that you want to discuss that is relevant to my experience and my knowledge. I'm happy to um get involved uh with you. Um because it is a growing market recently. Um Bitcoin became legal tender or a legal asset in El Salvador and now South American companies are going to follow suit and follow um Salvador's example of letting Bitcoin be a part of their financial system, um which is mind blowing because a Bitcoin being decentralized, meaning no government body controls Bitcoin, meaning that anybody can get involved in mining or keeping the network secure or checking in on their account, meaning how much Bitcoin they have where and when their Bitcoin was transferred to which address.

So the technology that is running Bitcoin is amazing is it just works, which is fantastic. I'm just super, super excited about that. Um And what else? Ok, so that pretty much brings us to the end of our session. It's 1834. So did I run over? I probably did so I will say goodbye. Thank you guys all the best. Bye. Oh, well, I'm still on here, so I'm going to try and answer as many questions as I can. It hasn't cut me off. Um There's another question that's come through. Hello. My question is, what resources do you recommend for navigating defy and staying up to date with new developments? So that's from Shell A Lei uh Shell. It's super hard to keep on top of uh defi because it's constantly changing. New um projects are running all of the time. Um But I'm a part of this group called Nov Insights. I'm going to type it into, I'm going to type it into the chat right now. Nova Insights is a um a software developer for D five projects. Um And Toby is run by Toby, I've forgotten his surname but um it's, it's hosted by Toby and his friends. Um And it's a whatsapp group. Um And in the whatsapp group, they also have a weekly calls, hour long calls on discussing what's new and what's happening in the D five space and explaining to, you know, people like you and me or what, what projects are exploding out there in the D I space, what the purpose is.

And they also um sort of like uh guess, you know, which ones are the next projects that are going to go, you know, explode. So, um it's a really good educational one hour call. Um And there's a free trial, it only costs £1 for a free trial of seven days just to listen in on the call. Um, be involved in the chat group and they also have newsletters as well. Um And if you want to continue that membership, um it's £300 for the year, but you take so much from the community and you learn so much from it that um it really is worth its money and some people have made back um what they contributed into the membership as well. You're welcome. She, I've learned, I've learned um by calling another person uh Shelley by mistake. So that's not a problem. Um Any other questions? I I'm still here, I'm still active. So I'm, I'm gonna keep staying on here until I get kicked out if you have any more questions uh for me. OK. So it looks, I'll just check the Q and A once more. OK. So I've got the questions already and um how much time approximately do you invest for defi learning? I've got this book that was recommended to me by um the, the community manager of uh make a Do Christine. Christine.

I'm not gonna guess her, her surname, but um it's called How To Defy uh How To Defy by Coin Gecko. And it's um I haven't finished reading it yet, but it's um really informative um and easy to digest book on um on, on, on, obviously, the D five projects are out there uh which are running um the use cases. Um Also they provide learning links, links for additional learning material and resources as well, which I find really useful. Um So again, there's lots of reading involved um in this one. And uh what really um piques my interest about defi is that um it's a decentralized. Um Yeah, it's a decentralized platform um on um decentralized Blockchain such as Ethereum um that runs um DS uh Decentralized apps. Um That can, yeah, that you can build, let's say financial products um that you would find in traditional markets on Blockchain. So, so you so effectively, you're, you're creating a, a second, a second market, financial market on the Ethereum Blockchain called Defi Decentralized Finance. That, that is, that, is that, that becomes more accessible to the public. Um So I find that aspect um you know, lowering the barriers of accessibility into financial markets. That, that blows my mind.

And what I find fantastic about defi and, and, and Bitcoin and Blockchain as well is that um the accessibility um so that it, it's accessible for everybody to get involved. Is it the learning is all online? Um Yeah, so everything is accessible, anyone can join in, anyone can learn, anyone can get involved. Um And it's all very experimental. Um So it's it's definitely an emerging tech. Um And very interesting to be a part of um another question from Rina. Do you think everyone should try to understand Blockchain? Because I've stayed away from it thinking it's a passing fad. Um Soon enough, um Rina, no one needs to understand what Blockchain is. Blockchain will be running, will be the underlying technology running alongside. It won't take over the financial system, but it will be running alongside the financial system. Um And it's another financial rail um that, that the public can use. Um So it will get to a point where we've progressed so far in the technology space that people would not have to understand what Blockchain technology is like. For example, we do not know how credit cards work. We don't need to know how credit cards work, but we know that it is a transfer of credit debit money and tops up, you know what we need to do on a day to day basis. So, no, you don't need to know everything about Blockchain.

But for me, I want to know what the technology is that is backing the Cryptocurrency. Um Yeah, so everyone has different interests. Um So, um yeah, another question from Michelle Morales. Um Can you talk more about El Salvador and the types of jobs that, that might create? Um The first thing that's come to my mind is um financial financial roles um because Bitcoin is very much. Um if you read the white paper, what Bitcoin is or what it was created for. It's an electronic payment system, a peer to peer electronic payment system. It was built and created for the transfer or value of money uh between people without anyone else getting involved in terms of governing bodies, companies or anyone sitting at the top is a community of networks, computers that are running um and computer code running the network.

So the more people that get involved mining um the more secure and um it maintains the technology running uh the Bitcoin uh infrastructure. Um So where I see else uh jobs creating in, in, if with, with, with Bitcoin is you will see more financial services, for example, payments, there'll be tech roles, for example API S will have to be built for, for Bitcoin, you know, the technology and Bitcoin Blockchain to connect with, you know, like company websites uh and banks, banking networks, payment service providers, credit cards, like Visa and Mastercard.

So all these uh application user interfaces would have to connect with the Blockchain technology. So that would be the next step. And the the roles around it is, yeah, pretty much financial roles, marketing roles, sales roles. Um Yeah, all types of roles within these companies um will be created um uh for Bitcoin and um and yeah, I it's a growing market so um it's never too late to join, to start today. I mean, um I think there are no more questions. Are there any queries that you guys have anything on your mind? Uh Let me know uh oh, you're welcome, Michelle. Uh Rina, will the top financial institution embrace this tech. Well, let me tell you, Rina. Um the financial, you know, financial institution money is coming into Bitcoin.

Retail money is coming into Bitcoin as well, but the big money lies with the institutions and they see value in, in, in, in, in Bitcoin because their clients are asking and demanding Bitcoin to be added as an asset in their portfolios to use Bitcoin as a hedge in their portfolio when other markets crash.

Um So Bitcoin is seen as a store of value, not just a pa a pay a means of transfer of payment, um but also a, a store of value uh an asset um in their portfolio that they see appreciating in value. Will it replace the paper money? I don't think so. I don't think it will replace money. I think money will always be around because sometimes it's not convenient to have um um you know, Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies um in different parts of the world. Um But when we look towards China, for example, they are very um sorry, they have heavily um invested in um apps, everyone has a mobile, everyone has an app, they're signed up to um wechat or um other payment gateways, social networks that has a payment API that is linked up to uh you know, they're creating a CBD C which is centralized bank, um centralized buying digital currency, for example, token.

So there'll be like a China to coin where they could use Cryptocurrency Blockchain to transfer money quicker, faster, cheaper. So if, if we look to China and seeing what they're doing, they're well ahead of the game. They are the largest mining facility in Bitcoin. They have everybody using mobiles because they build cheap, you know, they build all the phones, not all the phones, but they build phones cheap and everybody can, you know, scan a QR code and transfer money across. So they're a great example of a West, you know, a large economy that is quickly catching up with electronic payments and Cryptocurrency can be included in that really easily. Ok? Um uh Michelle, um I'm struggling to uh with the concept of trading as a, as a payment, trading as a payment. Um Well, think of it this way. Uh Michelle um revolute, have you got the revolute app? So you download the revolute app onto your phone, you top up your app with your, let's say us D you top it up with us. D you use your revolute Bitcoin card to pay, you know, you tap and pay and they do the conversion for you. They do the US D to uh Bitcoin conversion for you. Sorry, just a sec. This Oh yeah, so yes, they, they do the conversion for you and um Yeah, that's, that's pretty much, um, what they do.

Um, you top up your account, it's, um, and they do the conversion for you. So you don't have to, uh, the US D equivalent. So, for example, you're buying a watermelon for one US C, they do the switch the conversion between what that US D value at that time with Bitcoin's value at that time. And they do the conversion and they, they make money by taking a fee, a conversion fee from, they might charge you £1.10 10 P or 10 cents to the US dollar. I hope that makes sense. Um, people that were buying pizzas with it back in the day are kicking themselves now. Yes. So, um, that 10,000 Bitcoin is worth 83 million or 38 million. One of those who, uh, in US D value today. And, yeah, like no one knew back then. Um, the value of Bitcoin. So, um, it's hard to, it's always hard to tell where it would go. Um, and I guess that's it. Um, I still have nine people viewing. So out of the nine people viewing. If you have any questions, type it up now or any queries, anything on your mind. I'm happy to help. Um, you're welcome Michelle.

Um, I'm happy to help and, um, answer any questions that you have to mind and I hope that, um, my presentation has, um, um, you know, sort of like, helps anyone that was considering a role in crypto um or give you some pointers in the right direction of where to start with your learning and your, your job applications, et cetera.

Thanks all, all the best and good luck and have a good conference. Bye.