Crypto Economics Researcher
About the role
We are looking for a Crypto Economics Researcher to join the Economic Research and Ecosystem team to help shape the long-term economic strategy of the Avalanche ecosystem. This role sits at the intersection of economics, crypto, data science, and strategy.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct rigorous theoretical and empirical research on blockchain ecosystems, market dynamics, incentives, and network sustainability.
- Contribute to protocol design, evaluation, policy, and improvements based on research.
- Build models, datasets, and analytical frameworks that help evaluate strategic and economic tradeoffs.
- Analyze on-chain, market, and ecosystem data to generate decision-ready insights.
- Translate complex research into clear recommendations, actions, and knowledge resources.
- Stay at the forefront of cryptoasset research.
What We're Looking For
- A strong candidate will have:
- A quantitative background in economics, finance, mathematics, statistics, computer science, data science, or another related field.
- Strong empirical research and modeling skills, including but not limited to a mix of: structural estimation, causal inference, time-series analysis, machine learning, asset pricing models, simulation methods, mechanism design, market microstructure, and game theory.
- 3+ years of experience in an applied economics, quantitative research, data science, or related analytical role.
- Experience building data-driven research products, analytical frameworks, models, and tools that inform strategy, investment, product, or policy decisions.
- Proficiency and demonstrative experience with Python and SQL.
- Familiarity with crypto, blockchain ecosystems, DeFi, tokenomics, staking, or digital asset markets is preferred.
- Excellent written communication skills and analytical judgment.
- Comfort owning and addressing ambiguous, open-ended problems from end to end.
About the Team
The Economic Research and Ecosystem team strives to be the reference authority on blockchain economics — the standard the Avalanche ecosystem and the wider field look to when the question is how on-chain economies actually work. We are a small, high-leverage research function where our work can meaningfully influence ecosystem strategy, protocol thinking, and the long-term economic direction of a major blockchain network.
How We Work
- Ownership. You take responsibility for outcomes, not tasks. You own features from design to production and don't hand off problems when things break.
- Sense of Urgency. Blockchain moves fast. You prototype, benchmark, and iterate at market speed rather than waiting for the perfect plan.
- Collaboration. Need help? Ask. See someone stuck? Jump in. We pair, refactor together, and build shared patterns that make the whole team faster.
- Communication. Clear, proactive async communication keeps a distributed team aligned. You write updates, flag blockers, and set expectations without being chased.
About the Team
The Economic Research and Ecosystem team strives to be the reference authority on blockchain economics — the standard the Avalanche ecosystem and the wider field look to when the question is how on-chain economies actually work. We are a small, high-leverage research function where our work can meaningfully influence ecosystem strategy, protocol thinking, and the long-term economic direction of a major blockchain network.
Why Avalanche Foundation?
- Work at the cutting edge of DeFi infrastructure on one of the fastest-growing L1 ecosystems.
- Full autonomy — real ownership of your work, not just a ticket queue.
- Small team, high impact. What you build directly shapes ecosystem strategy.
- Remote-first, async-friendly culture.
- AI-forward engineering culture — we actively use and invest in AI tooling to ship faster.