Crypto careers are becoming increasingly incestuous
In an uncertain time for finance and fintech in particular, there's been much debate whether now is really the time to jump ship from traditional finance. Some people are still doing it, but crypto is also becoming a career path in itself.
Last year, banking-to-crypto moves were all the thing. This year, they're still happening, but at a far slower pace. In May, Celsius hired the former managing director of both Bank of America and Credit Suisse, Courtney Campbell and just a few months later in July, Coinbase acquired poached Goldman Sachs managing director Richard Kelly. B2C2 tapped Morgan Stanley managing director Thomas Restout to be their CEO of EMEA; Coinbase hired Goldman Sachs MD, Usman Naeem.
At the same time, though, people are increasingly moving within the emergent areas of the finance industry as crypto hiring becomes increasingly incestuous. For example, Blair Halliday, the former UK managing director at Gemini, the crypto exchange run by the Winklevoss twins, has just joined Kraken. Lory Kehoe, Coinbase's head of EMEA market operations, based in Dublin, joined from a healthcare blockchain in June. Daniel Seifert, former head of Solarisbank, a German fintech platform, has just arrived at Coinbase to head up its European expansion.
Crypto (and fintech) enthusiasts might argue that the emergence of native career paths is simply a sign of a maturing industry. Equally, though, with valuations plummeting (Coinbase's share price has gone from $253 in January to $69 now) and former leading fintech lights like Klarna and Adyen suffering massive decreases in their market cap, it's a reminder that if you have a comfortable job in a bank, a job outside traditional finance doesn't look as shiny as before.
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