Spoon is building something that sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and real-world data. The Blockchain Developer - Base role in Berlin puts you at the center of that effort. This is not a maintenance role or a legacy system cleanup job. It is a greenfield blockchain integration on top of a working product.
For engineers who want to build rather than manage, this opportunity carries real weight. Here is a closer look at what working at Spoon in this role actually involves.
The Company and What It Is Building
Spoon operates as a stealth-stage consumer platform. The product combines AI-powered data extraction, a token-based incentive layer, and on-chain data verification. Users contribute structured, verified real-world data through a mobile-optimised web application and earn tokens in return.
The proof-of-concept phase is already complete. A working barcode scanner, multi-image capture flow, AI extraction pipeline, and product database are all live in production. The MVP phase now adds the blockchain and token reward layer on top of that foundation.
Nothing gets rebuilt. The scope is entirely additive, which is a meaningful distinction for any developer evaluating where to invest their time.
Company Culture at Spoon
Spoon operates with a founding team culture. Decisions move quickly. Accountability sits close to the work. There are no long approval chains between the person writing code and the people who set the product direction.
The culture rewards ownership. Engineers are expected to bring judgment, not just execution. When you take on the blockchain integration scope, you own it fully, not as a cog in a larger team hierarchy.
Stealth-stage companies like Spoon tend to attract people who are comfortable with ambiguity and energised by early-stage pressure. If you prefer detailed specification documents and long planning cycles, this environment will feel uncomfortable. If you prefer direct feedback and fast iteration, it fits well.
Work Environment in Berlin
The role is based in Berlin, one of Europe's most active tech and startup hubs. Berlin's developer community is dense with blockchain talent, Web3 founders, and infrastructure engineers. Working in that environment creates natural professional proximity to people building at the edge of the industry.
Spoon's stealth-stage status means the physical workspace details are not publicly disclosed at this stage. Full product, market, and roadmap details are shared under NDA during the interview process. That is standard practice for companies protecting early competitive positioning.
Berlin also offers a cost-of-living profile that remains more accessible than London or Zurich for developers relocating from elsewhere in Europe. The city's infrastructure, transit, and international community make it a practical base for engineers from across the continent.
Team Structure and Collaboration
The team structure at Spoon for this role is lean and direct. The blockchain engineer joining this position works as an individual contributor reporting directly to the founding team. There is no middle management layer between the engineer and the people who make architectural decisions.
Collaboration runs in two primary directions. First, you work closely with the full-stack developer who built the proof-of-concept, specifically on integration touchpoints where the blockchain layer connects to existing infrastructure. Second, you have direct access to the project management team for decisions that affect system architecture.
This structure keeps communication tight. It also means the role carries genuine accountability. There is no diffusion of responsibility across a large team. The blockchain integration succeeds or faces friction based largely on the judgment and execution of the engineer in this role.
Technical Scope and Day-to-Day Work
The day-to-day work covers four main areas. Understanding what each area involves gives a realistic picture of what the role demands week to week.
Smart Contract Development
The primary smart contract task is designing, writing, and deploying an ERC-20 token contract on Base. Minting must be restricted to the backend signing wallet. This is not experimental architecture. Base is an established L2 network, and ERC-20 is a well-understood standard. The challenge lies in execution quality and security, not novelty.
Batch Jobs and Backend Integration
Two batch jobs form a core part of the scope. The Batch Anchor Job collects unanchored scans, computes a hash, and submits it on-chain. The Batch Token Distribution Job handles multi-send of accrued balances to all eligible wallets. These jobs must run reliably at scale without disrupting the existing AI extraction pipeline.
Backend integration extends the current schema with models for blockchain status, anchor batches, user wallets, and token rewards. The migration approach must not disrupt the live extraction pipeline. Building blockchain status and balance API endpoints completes this layer.
Frontend Wallet Integration
On the frontend, the role requires integrating wagmi v2 and viem into the existing Next.js application. Wallet connection, transaction signing, and balance display all fall within this scope. This is where the user-facing token experience comes to life, and the implementation quality directly affects user trust in the product.
Growth Opportunities in This Role
The engagement runs for a minimum of five months, with the possibility of a continued relationship depending on the outcome of the MVP phase. That structure means growth potential is real but conditional. Delivering a clean, production-ready blockchain integration creates a natural pathway to deeper involvement as the product scales.
Working at the founding-team level of a stealth-stage company also provides exposure that larger organisations rarely offer. You see how product decisions get made. You contribute to architecture choices that will shape the platform for years. That kind of early-stage exposure is difficult to replicate in a Series B or later-stage role.
The technical growth dimension is also significant. Base as a network is gaining serious traction in the consumer crypto space. Engineers building production systems on Base now are positioning themselves at a relevant part of the market before it becomes crowded. The combination of AI and on-chain data verification is also an emerging area where practical experience will carry value.
Work-Life Balance Considerations
Stealth-stage companies do not run on predictable nine-to-five schedules. The MVP phase carries urgency by definition. Spoon is moving from a working proof-of-concept to a market-ready product, and that transition has a timeline attached to it.
The individual contributor structure means there is no team beneath you to absorb overflow work. When integration issues arise, they land on the engineer in this role. That reality suits engineers who take satisfaction in direct ownership. It requires honest self-assessment for anyone who needs clear separation between work time and personal time.
Berlin's startup culture generally leans toward output-focused work rather than rigid hours. The city's broader tech community normalises flexible working patterns. Whether Spoon explicitly structures the engagement around flexible hours is something to clarify directly during the interview process.
Who This Role Is Right For
The Spoon Blockchain Developer - Base position suits an experienced engineer who is comfortable operating with minimal oversight, building in production environments, and owning outcomes rather than tasks. Familiarity with ERC-20 contracts, Base network deployment, wagmi, viem, and Next.js is essential, not preferred.
Engineers who have only worked in large teams with extensive QA pipelines and long release cycles may find the pace of this environment jarring. Those who have shipped production blockchain features in early-stage environments will recognise the rhythm and likely find it energising.
Spoon is building a platform that ties real-world data to on-chain verification and token rewards. The blockchain engineer joining now helps determine whether that platform reaches production in a form that works. That is a meaningful role, and the right engineer will recognise it as such.
Applications for the Blockchain Developer - Base position at Spoon in Berlin can be submitted at https://www.arbeitnow.com/jobs/companies/spoon/blockchain-developer-base-berlin-449610.
