How do you get opportunities in that scene? Do you get paid in cash or cryptocurrencies? Aren't you afraid of an eventual impending crash of the markets?
I also thought of learning about so-called smart-contracts but I'm skeptical of investing time in something that looks like it could crash any day, or maybe I'm just missing a big opportunity.
There’s always a reason not to do something. In this case, if you listen to the naysayers, the market has both already crashed (BTC’s only $43k?) and has yet to crash (BTCs inherent value is $0). If you listen to its proponents, btc’s gonna be worth $200k, just hodl until next year, so you'd be stupid not to get in on it.
The real question is what’s the opportunity cost of learning about the
smart contract ecosystem? If you’re a back end developer and you're going to learn frontend development or something else that’s going to open up new career paths in the next few months instead, then your next steps are worth a second thought. If you're just going to be drinking beer and playing video games then might as well try and learn about smart contracts.
Being active in communities/Discord, some networking.
It can of course crash, but take it as an opportunity to learn things and build up relationships in bear market, and when things go green again you'll have it pay.
About the payments, it's usually in the form of crypto (or getting some tokens from the project).
It did crash and I've lost a lot in the past, but I've always cashed out MUCH more than I've lost so it's a win if you get timings right.
I also thought of learning about so-called smart-contracts but I'm skeptical of investing time in something that looks like it could crash any day, or maybe I'm just missing a big opportunity.