Top finance talent is being sought by high-flying start-ups as Wall Street banks embrace crypto.

• Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology teams are being established by major banks.
• Start-ups are competing for talent by providing faster-paced work environments, equity, and reduced bureaucracy, and are attracting top talent from companies like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock.
• Goldman Sachs is one of the storied institutions of Wall Street, and taking brand risk was acknowledged by Justin Schmidt, former head of digital asset markets at Goldman Sachs.

Digital asset teams are experiencing increased hiring on Wall Street, but some employees are leaving established institutions for greater risk and potential reward.

JPMorgan has a dedicated team of more than 200 employees working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in its Onyx division. The JPM Coin digital currency is being used commercially to send payments around the world.

As CEO of Onyx by JPMorgan, Umar Farooq stated that the team prioritizes compliance and safeguarding the bank's brand, which often results in slower progress compared to typical crypto start-ups. However, when products are launched, they achieve a level of success that only fintechs can aspire to.

Farooq stated to CNBC that it is rare to find a platform that can go from nothing to transacting a billion dollars of trade a day in a short period of time. This level of scale is only possible at a company like JPMorgan Chase. Although there may be downsides to having more regulations or controls, the benefits of such a massive scale are far more significant.

Farooq stated that the hiring process involves a combination of current JPMorgan employees and competing with start-ups and larger tech companies for talent. Both first-year analysts and senior management, including managing directors, are increasingly interested in transitioning to the crypto industry, he added.

Last year, financial services firms added three times as many crypto jobs as in 2015, according to recent data from LinkedIn. In the first half of 2021, that pace jumped by 40%. Banks on a crypto hiring spree included Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Fidelity National Information Services, State Street Corporation, and Coinbase.

The surge in crypto investments on Wall Street corresponds with a rise in funding and employment opportunities in the start-up sector. Last year, crypto and blockchain companies raised a staggering $25 billion, an unprecedented eightfold increase from the previous year, as per CB Insights' data.

Despite the start-up boom, JPMorgan has experienced "limited attrition" among its employees, with those leaving being mainly individuals who want to start their own company rather than those seeking to leave and pursue a similar venture.

Last year, JPMorgan lost one of its top crypto executives, Christine Moy, who left her position as managing director and global head of crypto and metaverse at Onyx. She has not yet disclosed her next move.

Moy, who has spent over five years laying the groundwork for blockchain-based infrastructure in financial markets and cross-border payments, has scaled new businesses into the billions at J.P. Morgan. Now, he is seeking new opportunities to create value and drive impact for the Web3/crypto ecosystem from a fresh perspective.

Leaving Wall Street

Large financial institutions are slow to move projects, according to recent crypto executives who left Wall Street.

Uniswap Labs' chief operating officer, Mary Catherine Lader, was previously a managing director at BlackRock and began her foray into crypto as a side project within the asset management company.

Lader stated that his job was not primarily related to it, as it is often viewed as a hobby among people on Wall Street, and it was not something he was thinking about at the time due to its early stages of adoption.

Lader is now working on an emerging decentralized cryptocurrency exchange at Uniswap. She couldn't resist the opportunity to work on the next wave of innovation.

The technology is so vital to the future of finance that it didn't feel like a risk at all," Lader stated. "I was disappointed to leave the team I had worked with for many years. Although I have immense respect for the company, it didn't feel like a risk. That's a positive aspect of where we are in Web3.

Last year, Justin Schmidt, a former head of digital asset markets at Goldman Sachs, made a similar career change and joined institutional crypto trading platform Talos. He described the risk in a similar way, calling the decision "multidimensional."

Schmidt stated that taking a brand risk is inherent when working with Goldman, one of Wall Street's renowned institutions. Additionally, staying in a traditional setting also carries a risk, and Schmidt believes this is a generational shift that presents a generational opportunity.

The search for top talent in the cryptocurrency industry has shifted, with many start-ups and banks looking beyond traditional candidates with MBAs. Instead, they are considering individuals with less conventional resumes, such as self-taught engineers and crypto influencers. Lader and Schmidt have found that some of their best crypto hires have come from these unconventional sources.

Lader stated that he frequently encounters individuals who are 23 years old and possess the same level of expertise in markets as those he worked with on Wall Street for years. These individuals, who have no interest in financial services and would never consider working on Wall Street, are thrilled to work at UniSwap Labs and similar companies.