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Owen Healy
Owen Healy Blockchain Talent (100+ Hires, 30+ Countries)
Owen Healy is the Director of Owen Healy Blockchain Talent, a recruitment agency specializing in the blockchain and web3 sectors. With a background in traditional human resources, Healy transitioned into blockchain recruitment during the pandemic. His expertise allows him to effectively address the unique hiring needs of the rapidly evolving blockchain industry, where he has successfully placed over 100 candidates from more than 30 countries into various projects.123
Professional Background:
Before entering the blockchain space, Healy accumulated significant experience in HR, focusing on team building and recruitment processes. His interest in blockchain was sparked by its potential to revolutionize financial systems, leading him to pivot his career towards this emerging field.24 Since establishing his agency, he has become a prominent figure in web3 recruitment, known for his integrity and comprehensive screening processes that help clients make informed hiring decisions.13
Speaking Engagements and Insights:
Healy is also recognized as a speaker on topics related to web3 recruitment, sharing insights on best practices and trends within the industry. His contributions aim to enhance understanding of how to attract and nurture talent in this innovative sector.12 Through his work, he emphasizes the importance of passion and knowledge about blockchain technology for effective recruitment in this space.2
In summary, Owen Healy combines his HR expertise with a deep understanding of blockchain to serve as a key connector between talent and opportunities in the web3 landscape.
Highlights
1 in 3 Crypto Exchange Job Applicants Last Year Came From the Banking Sector
According to a Bitget report published earlier this year, higher salaries and career growth were cited as key drivers. Last year, Coinbase alone hired 29 people from JP Morgan.
Make no mistake, the opportunity for financial services professionals to reinvigorate and accelerate their careers in the crypto space is unmatched.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that many of the best and brightest minds in FS are queuing up to join the big custodians, RWA platforms and exchanges.
At the same time, banks are actively building dedicated digital asset teams. They too know the opportunity is huge. They understand that trillions of dollars will be integrated into blockchains over the coming years.
For those dependants on the financial sector for a living, I’d argue that familiarizing yourself with blockchain and tokenization isn’t only an opportunistic move, but a necessary one.
Innovation in Automation and blockchain tech (particularly interoperability) will remove A LOT of excess fat in what is an incredibly inefficient sector.
Thankfully, you still have a time to upskill – a lot of time. Broadly speaking, the tech isn’t ready yet and we're still in the early innings of a ‘digital twin’ era.
However, as an industry, we need more educational programs for financial service professionals looking to specialize in blockchain tech, RWA tokenization etc. There are very few university-accredited programs out there helping financial services professionals learn that basic of blockchain tech as it relates to their profession. Instead, people have to use their own initiative or learn on the job.
All told, I’m surprised that universities aren’t shilling ‘blockchain centred’ programs yet i.e. programs aimed specifically at financial services’ risk managers, fund managers, compliance specialists, product managers, lawyers etc.
Given how most financial institutions sponsor employees for relevant educational endeavours, I would assume it would be an easy sell for universities.
All told, there's both an opportunity and a need for universities to offer tailored job-specific programs to onboard the crypto curious
Details relating the Bitget's report can be found below: https://lnkd.in/eZjfSEdP
Key feedback from ETHDublin I need to be more active on Twitter/X
The 'personal branding' opportunity is enormous and going forward, I'm going to try my best to grow my presence there.
As much as I appreciate what LinkedIn has done for my career, I really need to diversify my presence across social media platforms.
I probably spend between 12-14 hours a day on LinkedIn and while it's great for network building and personal branding, the problem is that a lot of people just don't like using it. Similarly, over the last few months, several dev friends, have told me that they're tired of getting bombarded with recruiter messages, so much so they don't even keep up with them anymore.
Over the last few weeks, I started using X/Twitter a bit more and I've really enjoyed the energy there.
The content is much more authentic and I've also enjoyed listening to a few spaces.
The ideas shared in some of the comments' sections alone are truly insightful.
I've also got a few meetings organised at Eth CC via commenting on a few posts.
Personally, I think the opportunity for X as a job platform is huge.
Similarly, as much as I like what Farcaster and Lens are doing, I also think it would be amazing if Twitter/X build a 'web3 solution' on top of the existing platform. The community is already there.
Last year at Devconnect, I remember talking to some of the Yearn Finance team - a project that I've huge respect for as they are one of very few DeFi platforms with its own Chief Security Officer. I asked them where do they find talent - they said they just post roles on Twitter and people apply. They said it works.
Hopefully, Twitter will work for me one day too.
@OwenBlockchain is my handle if you'd like to help a fellow out.

