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Citigroup is beefing up its capacity to serve clients interested in crypto assets. In an announcement on Thursday, November 18, the U.S.-based banking powerhouse plans to create 100 roles that will be focused on digital assets including cryptocurrencies and blockchain for its institutional division, Reuters reported.
With its planned hiring spree, Citigroup has joined other traditional banks in their efforts to try to tap the growing crypto sector. While the industry has been facing regulatory scrutiny lately, crypto-assets adoption continues to grow as both institutional and retail investors alike are increasingly turning to popular digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) as a store of value and inflation hedge.
The bank also named Puneet Singhvi as its head of blockchain and digital assets for the institutional clients group (ICG) starting December 1, according to Coindesk. Prior to his new post, Singhvi was head of blockchain and digital assets at the bank's Global Markets team.
Under his new role, Singhvi will report to Citi’s head of business development for Institutional Clients Group Emily Turner. To assist Singhvi will be Shobhit Maini and Vasant Viswanathan who will be co-heads for blockchain and digital assets.
The new team will be housed in London, New York, Singapore, and Tel Aviv. Citi expects to finalize the hiring drive by the end of 2022, according to a company spokesperson.
“We are focused on assessing the needs of our clients in the digital asset space,” Citi said in a statement. “Prior to offering any products and services, we are studying these markets, as well as the evolving regulatory landscape and associated risks in order to meet our own regulatory frameworks and supervisory expectations.”
The bank also said that it will hire additional talent over the next several months. These positions will be scattered across its ICG businesses, functions, and the ICG Business Development team.
Aside from Citigroup, other financial behemoths have already made their moves into the crypto space. For instance, Goldman Sachs already launched a crypto-trading team, JPMorgan’s wealth management clients now have access to crypto funds, and Bank of America has started crypto research coverage.
