JPMorgan is spearheading the charge on Wall Street, as the world’s top banks are rapidly hiring to beat the competition in developing blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies.
The US investment bank has 56 open jobs on its website for blockchain-related occupations, as of 8 March, spread across its operations in India, the US, the UK and Singapore.
One of its most senior vacancies is located in London, where the bank is hunting for someone to lead product development for its inter-bank blockchain network Liink in its crypto-dedicated Onyx business.
JPMorgan advertised the role as being in a “startup-like environment” within the bank, requiring experience across the blockchain community and senior financial services.
Meanwhile, in New York it is on the hunt for a managing director to lead business development for Liink and vice presidents for strategy, marketing and project management at Onyx.
READ JPMorgan’s venturing into outer space to test its blockchain tech
The US investment bank launched Onyx in October, after working on its construction for five years. It has more than 100 employees already hired within the division, working on its digital asset JPM Coin as well as Liink and other projects.
Meanwhile BNY Mellon, a fellow cryptocurrency bull that recently announced that it would be expanding its interest in the sector, has eight positions open for blockchain development and related services. The bank’s principal lead for blockchain and digital assets is to be based in Dublin, while other senior roles are located in Poland, New York and Tel Aviv.
Citigroup is similarly active, hiring for 16 roles across Israel, the US and the UK. The bank’s Innovation Lab in Tel Aviv is on the hunt for a chief technology officer, while its London office is seeking a senior vice president for the same division.
READ HSBC, JPMorgan among banks dipping into crypto and blockchain — Here’s the list
Despite its intention to revive its cryptocurrency trading desk and expand further into the region, Goldman Sachs has just two positions open in the blockchain realm. The lender is seeking associates in digital assets for its global markets divisions in New York and Singapore.
Morgan Stanley is hiring for only one position in blockchain as part of its back-end software development team in Canada. Others such as HSBC have three roles available, located in Hong Kong, China and India.
Barclays, which has famously dismissed the popularity of bitcoin as “uninvestable”, has no blockchain-related vacancies at all.
READ Barclays private bank slams bitcoin as ‘almost uninvestable’
Its private bank said in January that the cryptocurrency is too volatile and provides little diversification benefits for large investors to consider holding it in portfolios, despite the recent boom in institutional interest.
To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Emily Nicolle