The Roundup
- Wall Street players are hiring for crypto roles.
- Recruiters say they expect more recruitment in traditional finance.
A version of this article appeared in our The Roundup newsletter on February 13. Sign up here.
Hi. Eric here.
Wall Street is hunting for crypto talent.
BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and CitiGroup are just some of the traditional finance players who are actively recruiting for candidates with crypto know-how, according to roles advertised on their websites.
But this is just the beginning as the financial heavyweights adopt digital assets like never before, crypto-focused recruiters say.
“When I speak with CEOs from TradFi who are now building digital assets, they consistently say the same thing: Crypto will ultimately be integrated into TradFi, not exist separately,” Sam Wellalage, founder of the recruitment agency WorkInCrypto, told me.
Indeed, Wall Street’s recruitment efforts come in a week where Goldman Sachs has unveiled that it has $2 billion worth of crypto exposure, and BlackRock scooped up an undisclosed amount of Uniswap governance tokens.
At the same time, a slew of financial heavyweights are gearing up to attend the World Liberty Forum, the crypto event organised by the Trump family’s crypto venture, next week.
US President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies are often credited for Wall Street’s return to digital assets. His promises to make the country the crypto capital of the world and his championing of light-touch regulations have emboldened banks, investment companies and fintech firms to explore blockchain-based businesses.
It is against this backdrop that several of these firms are now sourcing talent to bolster their digital asset teams.
“Institutional recruitment in 2026 will be about finding digital asset leaders who can operate at the intersection of capital, markets, and regulation — not just crypto enthusiasm,” Wellalage said.
At a time when the total cryptocurrency market has lost $2 trillion, or half, of its value since October, it is encouraging that firms are still looking to strengthen their digital asset teams.
Binance’s co-founder Changpeng Zhao said he didn’t do much to make Trump pardon him. Tim Craig reports on the crypto mogul’s latest comments.
In his latest column, Wolfgang Münchau argues that one of Bitcoin’s biggest problems is that it struggles to find a narrative that fits. Yet, Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve may fix that.
Robinhood has led the wave of fintech firms that have muscled into crypto. While this provides them with plenty of opportunities, it also exposes them to risks, as Robinhood’s fourth quarter earnings showed this week. Mathew Di Salvo reports.
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