Crypto startup employee quits after realizing telltale signs of failure

Offering NFT services without proper infrastructure and purchasing crypto at ATH purely based on popularity were the red flags for the Redditor.

The startup ecosystem has historically played a vital role in shaping the crypto community into an almost $2 trillion industry. However, numerous players bank on this notion to consistently overpromise and underdeliver the big WAGMI dream.

Back in December 2021, Redditor busterrulezzz thought they landed their dream job after being hired by a crypto startup — only to realize that they were now a part of the problem and resigned from the position two months later.

As narrated by busterrulezzz:

“First of all, the level of disorganization and chaos was absolute madness. Each morning we had a different objective, based on the most recent trend in the market.”

The Redditor alleged that the crypto startup, which shall remain unnamed due to an active non-disclosure agreement, did everything that crypto investors are usually advised against. This included offering NFT services without proper infrastructure, purchasing cryptocurrencies at their all-time highs purely based on their popularity. Paraphrasing the company’s agenda, busterrulezzz stated:

“One of our products doesn’t work anymore because we rushed a bug-fixing patch? Let’s pretend that never happened and let’s keep pushing rosy marketing articles!”

Soon after joining the team, the Redditor realized that a business cannot be profitable or a productive member of the crypto ecosystem “if you can’t even define your objectives and stick to it.”

The Redditor further alleged that the startup proactively misled and cheated investors by using bots to run official Telegram channels, faking community users on Discord and partnering with influencers to make their products seem popular, adding that:

“This kind of stuff is what gives crypto its bad reputation to the outside world.”

One of the biggest red flags the new employee noticed were the founders, who were allegedly only interested in making the most amount of money as soon as possible:

“We were acting like an evil hedge fund, precisely the type of institution crypto is supposed to fight.”

With this alleged realization, busterrulezzz now felt like a scammer and ended up quitting their job. Conveniently enough, the company did not pay salary for the last week for absconding. The Reddit community, however, wants them to lawyer up to get the NDA nullified and retrieve the pending payment. “Thanks for the advice, I will look into it,” they concluded.

Despite the unpleasant experience, the Redditor advises the community to join well-known crypto enterprises and “not waste your time in little-known start-ups that have big dreams, but can’t deliver.”

Readers are also advised to do their due diligence about the company founders and roadmap prior to accepting job invitations. While the story highlights the alleged inner workings of a fraudulent crypto startup, some of the biggest players in crypto come from humble backgrounds including Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume.

Related: UK financial watchdog seeks crypto talent amid new crackdown

On the other end of the spectrum, government organizations have finally acknowledged the importance of hiring experts from within the crypto ecosystem.

As Cointelegraph reported, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently posted job openings on LinkedIn seeking a head of the digital assets department and a director of the payments and digital assets department.

The new role is part of FCA’s plan to establish a dedicated department for crypto, the announcement notes:

“We are looking for a head of department to build and lead a new crypto department that will lead and coordinate the FCA’s regulatory activity in this emerging market. This is a critical leadership role within a proposed new directorate dealing with emerging business models […]”