Silicon Valley engineers are quitting their jobs at tech giants in pursuit of blockchain

Published on
12/12/2019 01:43 PM

For many engineers, landing a job at one of the world's largest tech companies is the dream. However, more and more engineers and turning down roles at Silicon Valley's top tech firms in pursuit of more innovative roles.

Blockchain receives a boost in business

Many people are dubious of blockchain due to its cryptocurrency roots. Despite this, the decentralised technology is rapidly gaining momentum in the enterprise. Major bank CEOs have declared that blockchain will underpin the financial industry “in five years.” Moreover, the world's biggest enterprise blockchain platforms have joined forces meet the "global demand for enterprise blockchain." Decentralised blockchains could completely alter the landscape of trust in business. As a result, many engineers are beginning to sideline traditional top tech roles in favour of blockchain startups.

The curious case of Maximilian Wang

According to an article in Forbes, Maximilian Wang abandoned his job at Facebook to create the cryptocurrency exchange Bgogo. Today, he serves as the CEO of the blockchain startup. "You know engineers are very simple: you give us a task, and we find the solution to it we spend all of our time on that," Wang said. "It’s hard to see what the world outside looks like and how that world functions and is making money." During 2017 at Facebook, Wang led a talk on blockchain but "everyone thought it was a scam,” he said. Despite the fast-growing blockchain sector, Wang said “nobody believed” him.

Belief in blockchain

Wang's determination and belief in blockchain paid off. In 2017, his cryptocurrency portfolio increased by the same amount as his annual salary as blockchain began to boom. He believes that cryptocurrency exchanges will become the banks of the future. “I told Facebook if you really want to do business in crypto, just buy Coinbase,” Wang said. Wang launched Bgogo with this belief in mind, a blockchain startup that is the first digital asset exchange with supernode listing authority. The CEO hopes for Bgogo to become the top "bank" in the blockchain realm, equivalent to the crypto JP Morgan Chase.

Maximilian Wang is in good company. Take a look at our Top 10 blockchain influencers 

Join 34,209 IT professionals who already have a head start

Network with the biggest names in IT and gain instant access to all of our exclusive content for free.

Get Started Now