JPMorgan, Goldman, and more bolster their crypto teams

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Wall Street executives who despised bitcoin more than a decade ago are now leaning more intensely on crypto recruits, Bloomberg writes.

Executives pay big bonuses to these recruits and seek to build a larger base of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

There has been an increase in crypto-related hires, with major banks adding around 1,000 such positions since 2018.

This expansion comes as Wall Street navigates its relationship with crypto as banks haven’t really integrated in recent years. The report states that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon decried the crypto as “worthless” and called it a fraud in 2017.

Recently, there has been greater acceptance of crypto, as well as growing interest from customers. This tempered the animosity of the banks. Instead, the banks added a number of research teams and trading desks, along with significant pay increases.

“Banks can’t run the risk that their customers will turn to another bank to do these services, so they have to grow,” said Alan Johnson, managing director of the compensation consultancy firm at Wall Street Johnson Associates. “It’s a great asset, a great opportunity, and they need people and they need them fast. They are prepared to pay dearly.

But things might not be so rosy, with crypto getting more attention from regulators. This includes recent Chinese rules prohibiting banks from offering crypto-related services as well as transactions. In response, bitcoin miners have sought to go elsewhere to do their jobs.

The cryptocurrency was recently reassessed, with the European Central Bank examining how the digital euro would attract users and not be overwhelmed by private payment types.

Read more: Member of the Executive Board of the ECB: The digital euro would not be redundant

The ECB works alongside the European Commission to answer many policy, legal and design questions regarding the digital euro. The team is investigating what would happen if the currency became legal across the continent.

Currently, the ECB has not decided whether or not to deploy a digital euro. But it could happen around 2025 if approved.

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NEW PYMNTS DATA: 2021 HOLIDAY SHOPPING PERSPECTIVES

By the way: It’s almost time for the holiday shopping season, and nearly 90% of U.S. consumers plan to do at least some of their purchases online – 13% more than in 2020. On the 2021 Holiday Shopping Outlook, PYMNTS surveyed over 3,600 consumers. to find out what drives online sales this holiday season and the impact of product availability and personalized rewards on merchant preferences.

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