Web3 remains one of the most dynamic industries, where the pace of company growth is increasingly constrained not by technology, but by people. As the market matures, technological solutions and innovation alone are no longer the primary differentiators. Instead, the ability to build a sustainable corporate culture and retain top talent is coming to the forefront.
Previously, together with Irina Gardashova, Head of HR at CoinsPaid, we discussed which specialists are currently in demand among Web3 companies, how onboarding processes are structured, and why common narratives about instability in the crypto industry do not always reflect reality. We decided to continue the conversation with Irina and broaden the discussion, shifting the focus to the internal dynamics of Web3 companies — corporate culture, the role of teams, and how HR approaches are evolving within a young and fast-growing industry.
Why People Stay in Web3 Companies
What factors keep employees at Web3 companies beyond compensation?
We regularly conduct engagement surveys, and the results remain consistent year after year. The single strongest retention factor for employees is the team. This factor consistently ranks first, regardless of internal changes within the company or broader market conditions.
People stay primarily because of the colleagues they work with. These are highly skilled professionals, driven by enthusiasm and a genuine interest in what they do. Compensation matters, of course, but it is matched by a strong interest in the product and the sense of being surrounded by like-minded people.
Even during periods of heavy workload or burnout, the team remains the key factor that keeps people in the company. For many employees, the opportunity to work alongside strong, engaged peers outweighs any additional financial incentives.
What role does corporate culture play in retaining talent?
Corporate culture has a direct impact on how comfortable employees feel staying with a company over the long term. This is not about formal policies or written rules, but about how people interact day to day. How they support one another, listen, and step in when work-related challenges arise.
At CoinsPaid, a culture has taken shape where support and engagement are the norm. An employee can raise an issue that may fall outside someone’s formal area of responsibility and still receive attention and meaningful support.
This kind of environment reduces internal friction and creates a sense of psychological safety, as employees know they are not left alone to deal with challenges. That feeling of working within a clear, supportive framework is a key factor in whether specialists choose to stay with a company for the long term.
Internal Culture in Web3 Companies
How does corporate culture take shape within a company?
At CoinsPaid, corporate culture did not emerge through formal policies or predefined rules. Instead, it developed organically. Through people and the way they work together. As the team grew, the culture took shape through shared work, common goals, and everyday interactions.
Recruitment plays a critical role in this process. From the outset, we assess not only candidates’ professional skills, but also how they collaborate with others, how comfortable they are working in a team, and how they respond to feedback and uncertainty. In practice, culture begins to form as early as the hiring stage.
In addition, our HR team is deeply embedded in the day-to-day life of the organization. We have a clear understanding of the projects people are working on, how teams interact, and where challenges may arise. This allows us to sustain an environment in which culture is not imposed from the top down, but continues to evolve naturally, through daily workflows and human relationships.
Why has the need to formalize corporate culture emerged now?
As the company has grown, it has become clear that a culture once transmitted organically, through personal interaction and leadership example, can no longer rely solely on that model. When teams are small, this approach works. As an organization scales, however, there is a real risk that culture becomes diluted or interpreted differently across teams.
We have reached a point where it is time to codify what already exists. This is not an attempt to invent a culture from scratch, but rather to articulate and structure established principles so they are understood consistently, regardless of team, role, or geography.
Formalizing culture makes it more resilient and scalable. It is a way to preserve the company’s internal environment as it grows and to ensure continuity, so new employees enter a clear system of shared values and expectations rather than relying solely on informal cues.
What values and non-monetary incentives are effective within the company?
For us, values must be fully aligned with the company’s day-to-day reality. They must reflect how people interact with one another, how decisions are made, and how teams operate in practice. That is why we first observed how the company actually functions and only then moved to formalize these principles.
A separate area of focus is non-monetary recognition. Expressions of appreciation and acknowledgment of colleagues’ contributions have long existed at the level of everyday communication. We are now building a more structured approach to reinforce and scale the behaviors that have already taken shape within the team and have proven to be genuinely effective.
International Teams and Cultural Differences
Do you notice differences in expectations among employees from different regions, or are they largely aligned?
Cultural differences certainly exist, and it would be unrealistic to ignore them. For us, however, the key issue is not the differences themselves, but how the company works with them. We do not see culture in terms of what is “right” or “wrong”. There is simply what you understand and what you do not.
Very often, differences that are commonly attributed to culture are in fact rooted in individual characteristics. Two employees from the same country may have completely different habits, approaches to work, and expectations. At the same time, people from different regions may share very similar perspectives.
That is why we do not try to force employees into a single mold. What matters is being attentive to differences, asking questions, seeking clarification, and understanding where those differences come from. This approach helps avoid conflict and build collaboration based on understanding rather than stereotypes.
How does the company work with a multicultural environment and cultural differences within the team?
For us, the key point is not to smooth over differences or pretend they do not exist. It is important to recognize that people may have different habits, communication styles, perceptions of time, or approaches to feedback, and that this is entirely normal. The company’s role is to create an environment where these differences do not become a source of tension.
On a personal level, I find it easier to work with such teams because of my background in intercultural communication. I was taught a very simple principle early on: not to judge differences, but to try to understand them. In practice, this approach works well. When you avoid labels and instead seek to understand where a particular reaction is coming from.
At the same time, it is important that many employees intuitively follow the same approach, even without formal training. People are willing to listen, explain their perspective, and find common ground. This is what makes it possible to build effective working relationships in a multicultural team without rigid frameworks or constant friction. Relying not on formal rules, but on mutual respect.
Personal Qualities and Skills of Employees
Which skills, in your view, are becoming essential for working in Web3 companies?
In Web3, the ability to quickly navigate a new environment is especially important. When someone joins a company, they are immediately faced with a high volume of processes, information, and uncertainty. Without strong analytical thinking, it becomes difficult to operate effectively. You need to be able to make sense of what is happening and draw conclusions, rather than acting blindly.
The ability to learn is equally critical. The industry is constantly evolving, and it is impossible to fully master everything once and stop there. When people are open to new ideas, ask questions, and are willing to dive deep, they adapt and grow much more easily.
This is less about specific hard skills and more about internal flexibility and a willingness to continuously reassess one’s approach to work.
Which personal qualities are especially important for working within the CoinsPaid team?
For us, it is important that a person can be both independent and a true team player at the same time. This means taking full responsibility for one’s tasks and seeing them through to completion, while also understanding that the work is not done in isolation, but in close collaboration with others.
We pay close attention to the ability to work with the team — to communicate, align, support others, and be open to receiving support in return. In our environment, strong specialists do not compete with one another; instead, they strengthen the team. This balance is something we actively assess as early as the interview stage.
Equally important is a person’s attitude toward growth. When a candidate believes they already know everything, it is a red flag. What we value far more is genuine curiosity, proactivity, and a willingness to contribute beyond the formal scope of the role.
How HR Practices Are Evolving in Web3 Companies
Which traditional HR practices, in your view, are not applicable in the Web3 industry?
I would not say that there are HR practices in Web3 that simply do not work at all. What tends to fail is the direct copying of approaches without taking the company’s specific context into account. HR mechanisms themselves are largely universal: onboarding, learning, development, and feedback, but each organization requires its own format and substance for these processes.
When an HR professional joins a new company, the priority is to understand how the organization actually operates and what challenges need to be addressed. You cannot simply take a standard toolkit and apply it unchanged. The same process can look very different in a product company versus an outsourcing business, or in a small team compared to a large organization.
The key mistake, therefore, is trying to implement HR practices “by the book” without adapting them to the realities of the business and its people. This is especially evident in Web3, where the industry is young, fast-moving, and demands flexibility. What matters is not the form of the processes, but how effectively they help people work, grow, and develop.
Which HR practices, on the contrary, prove to be the most effective in Web3 companies?
The most effective practices are those that put people at the center, rather than processes for the sake of process. This is particularly critical for product-driven companies, where sustainable performance is impossible without taking into account employees’ well-being, motivation, and level of engagement.
Onboarding, learning, and development remain core tools, but their content is always shaped by the team’s real day-to-day context. There is no universal template that can be applied once and for all. It is essential to understand where the company is in its growth cycle, what challenges teams are facing, and what kind of support they genuinely need.
Openness to change and external perspectives also plays a major role. When a new team member joins and suggests improvements, it is not seen as a threat. On the contrary, such input helps teams continuously reassess and fine-tune their processes without slowing the business down.
How is feedback structured at CoinsPaid?
I believe that constructive feedback is, first and foremost, a form of care for the individual. If something is being explained to an employee, it means the company is invested in them and wants them to continue growing within the organization. The absence of feedback is far more dangerous than a difficult conversation.
For us, feedback must be clear and well-reasoned. This is not about criticism for its own sake, but about helping a person recalibrate, understand where something is not working, and why it matters for the team. This approach reduces tension and helps prevent feedback from being taken personally.
We work extensively with feedback both during formal review cycles and in everyday interactions. Our goal is to build a culture where feedback is not perceived as an attack or a reproach, but as an opportunity to adjust course and become stronger, for the individual and for the team as a whole.
The Web3 industry is gradually moving away from the image of a chaotic and unstructured environment. As companies mature, it is not only technology that plays a decisive role, but also more developed approaches to working with people. The experience of CoinsPaid shows that close attention to the human factor and a deliberate, thoughtful HR strategy are becoming the foundation for long-term growth in a fast-changing industry.
