The year began with high hopes and new opportunities in the Web3 sector. We had eight mid-to-senior roles in Sales and Business Development, along with active hiring for sales traders and quant options traders for our prop trading and exchange clients. While some of these roles have been filled, others have been paused due to rising uncertainty in global markets.

Last week, the U.S. imposed a 10% tariff on Singapore, with even higher tariffs on neighbouring countries—17% on the Philippines, 24% on Malaysia, and even steeper rates across the rest of Asia. Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned that this move could trigger a vicious cycle of escalating tariffs, leading to higher costs and slower economic growth.

Singapore Regulatory Updates:

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has begun clearing its backlog of MPI license applications from late 2024. Companies that were denied a license have withdrawn their applications, and some businesses have shut down as a result.

Web3/Crypto M&As and IPOs:

We have seen a few headlines such as the acquisition of Bridge by Stripe ($1.1 billion), Metaco by Ripple ($250 million), and a $2B investment into Binance by MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment group.

Circle and Gemini filed for IPOs in 2025, Kraken is preparing for an IPO in 2026, and Bullish and BitGo are weighing IPOs.

We are seeing a consolidation of the crypto exchanges and infrastructure companies, which signals a maturity of this asset class. Institutional adoption is expected to drive the next wave of growth in this space.

Hiring Outlook:

Job growth is closely tied to market stability and confidence. With the U.S. taking steps to manage its government debt through tariffs, the ripple effects will be felt globally. Many countries will not be immune, and we expect businesses—especially startups—to tighten their belts in 2025, which will lead to reducing hiring activity. Brace for a challenging year ahead.

Finally, an announcement!

📣 We’ve moved our job updates from Telegram to Whatsapp channels.

On this new channel, we’ll also be sharing periodic insights (like the one above) on the job market and hiring sentiment across emerging tech, fintech, and web3 sectors.

Subscribe here to get the latest job updates: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAKETU0Vyc99GuwLo3c