Fair enough, it's a specialized area, just like compilers, numerics, machine learning, web front ends, or any amount of other stuff. It's not for everyone. But

Fair enough, it's a specialized area, just like compilers, numerics, machine learning, web front ends, or any amount of other stuff. It's not for everyone. But you don't have to be DJB or Einstein to study it and gain some ability. For that matter, thousands of people every year go to medical school, complete a residency, and become board certified brain surgeons. They're not Einstein either. Crypto implementation isn't nearly as difficult I'm sure. And machine learning is far more mathematically demanding than basic crypto. As for threat models, NaCl and OpenSSL don't magically mitigate against currently unknown threats. Really paranoid crypto is usually wrapped in HSM's (electromagnetically shielded, tamper resistant etc.) in the hope of blocking some of that.