I still remember the first time a client asked me if I had any QA engineers “who’ve done crypto stuff.” It was early 2020, and QA just wasn’t a common request in Web3. Back then, blockchain projects were sprinting to ship protocols, mint tokens, and push the limits of decentralisation. Quality assurance? That was a luxury for later. But what followed was The Quiet Rise of QA in crypto—subtle, steady, and absolutely necessary.
But now? Now it’s different.
The Quiet Rise of blockchain QA positions has caught even seasoned recruiters like me off guard. And I’ve been knee-deep in crypto hiring for years. It’s not the flashy engineering or headline-grabbing leadership roles making waves—it’s the slow, steady demand for QA professionals who get how smart contracts, chains, wallets, and decentralised systems actually behave.
And here’s the thing: this shift says a lot about where Web3 is headed.
QA Is the New Scalability
When I speak to founders now—especially at mid-sized Layer 1s or DeFi protocols—there’s a common refrain: “We need to make sure it works before we scale.”
The mad rush of bull markets left plenty of teams with broken user flows, untested smart contract logic, and brittle backend systems. And with increasing pressure from users, regulators, and investors, QA is now being seen not as a blocker, but as an enabler.
Take the example of a blockchain gaming platform I worked with recently. They’d been building fast, raised big, and were getting traction. But bugs were killing the vibe—game state mismatches, weird transaction delays, NFTs not rendering correctly. After a painful launch, they hired two blockchain-savvy QA testers.
Result? Not only did they clean up user complaints, but they also started catching issues before they even hit staging. It shifted their culture. They slowed down—strategically—and shipped better.
That’s the quiet rise in action: it’s not loud, but it’s changing how teams deliver.
It’s Not Just Manual Testing Anymore
One of the biggest misconceptions I still hear is that QA just means manual bug hunting. Maybe that worked in early Web2, but in blockchain? It barely scratches the surface.
Today’s QA roles in Web3 look a lot more like hybrid engineering gigs.
People are writing Solidity unit tests, building fuzzers to simulate chaotic on-chain activity, automating multi-wallet test suites, and validating complex flows between dApps and smart contracts. They’re reviewing logs on chain explorers and integrating QA into CI/CD pipelines. It’s hands-on, technical, and pretty damn niche.
For instance, I recently placed a QA Automation Engineer at a ZK-rollup project. His first task? Build an internal tool to test privacy-preserving transactions across 100+ scenarios using zk-SNARKs. That’s not your standard browser click-test role.
The candidates who are thriving in these roles? They’ve usually got a solid grounding in QA fundamentals but also understand how EVMs, APIs, wallets, and dApps interact. If they’ve tested a bridge or an L2, even better.
The Hiring Gap Is Still Huge
Here’s the frustrating bit: despite the quiet rise of demand, supply is still catching up. Very few QA engineers have “Web3 experience” on their CVs—and even fewer have worked in production DeFi or infra environments.
Most hiring managers aren’t sure where to find them. Do they look at crypto-native communities? Hire strong QA from fintech and upskill them? Or convince devs to test their own code (which, let’s be honest, rarely works out)?
What’s worked well for my clients is a hybrid approach:
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Retrain high-performing QA testers from fintech or payments, especially those with an appetite for learning Solidity, GraphQL, and Web3 workflows.
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Source talent from blockchain bootcamps with testing modules (a few are popping up).
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Nurture in-house devs who enjoy breaking things—then support them with proper test frameworks and dedicated QA leads.
But until there’s a reliable talent pipeline, companies that take QA seriously have a real competitive edge.
QA as Brand Protection
If you’re shipping anything that touches users’ funds, QA is your front line. One broken dApp flow, one off-by-one gas estimate, or one wallet signature bug—and you’ve lost user trust.
That’s why I’ve seen a growing trend: protocols making QA part of their brand. They’re publicly showcasing their commitment to stability. Some even publish test coverage stats or bring QA engineers into AMAs.
A great example? A modular blockchain infra team I support recently created a QA section in their whitepaper—literally showing how they ensure decentralised apps built on their stack don’t fall apart.
It might sound like overkill, but in a post-FTX world? Trust is everything.
Where Things Are Headed
I’ll go out on a limb here: In two years, QA will be a standard part of every Web3 hiring plan. It’ll be as common as DevRel or product managers.
We’re seeing the early signs already:
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QA-specific roles listed in top crypto job boards
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Discord groups forming around blockchain testing
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Frameworks and tools like Hardhat, Foundry, and Tenderly gaining traction among QA teams, not just devs
And honestly? I think that’s a good thing.
Because the quiet rise of blockchain QA isn’t just about shipping cleaner code—it’s about maturing as an industry. It’s about realising that building cool tech isn’t enough. It has to work. It has to scale. And above all, it has to be safe.
Final Thoughts Over Coffee
If you’re a recruiter, founder, or engineer who’s been ignoring QA until now—this is your nudge. The tide’s turning.
And if you’re a QA professional curious about Web3? Jump in. The space needs you. Desperately.
The hype might grab headlines, but it’s the quiet roles—the QA engineers, the testers, the bug-hunters—that make Web3 usable for the long haul.
So here’s to them. The unsung heroes behind every smooth transaction, every secured wallet, and every on-chain interaction that just works.
