(Bloomberg) -- No sooner had the 32-year-old developer joined Coinbase Global Inc. than he was on his way out.

The developer, who asked not to be identified talking about his workplaces, joined the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US last year from a tech giant. He was lured by a base salary of $175,000 and a generous stock option package. Back then, the crypto markets were riding high. 

Within months the markets were crashing and colleagues around him, who had converted some of their pay to crypto, began to panic. He jumped ship before his own shares in the company could plummet, and before the firm cut 1,100 staff, or 18% of its workforce, in June. 

He initially left Coinbase off his resume as he began to look for another job. In fact, his time there turned out to be a blessing. After interviewing with Wall Street companies, he joined Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc. this summer on a base salary close to his previous one.

Meanwhile, one software engineer who was let go by Coinbase said he was inundated with messages from crypto firms, recruiters and Wall Street banks, but went back to his team at his previous employer, Uber Technologies Inc. He also asked not to be named talking about his employment.

With crypto firms from Bitpanda GmbH to BlockFi Inc. slashing jobs, many workers like this are finding that with the right skills, they can find themselves in demand at the heart of the finance industry. Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are seeking staff with blockchain experience -- and they’re not the only ones, as the technology that underpins crypto markets continues to grab the attention of banking clients and regulators.

“The downturn in crypto trading, with activity dropping and slow hiring, became an opportunity for incumbents,” said Thomas Olsen, a financial services partner at the consultancy Bain & Co. His company has been hiring white-collar workers exiting the crypto sector. “We’re hearing people for the next six to nine months seeing this as an opportunity when they couldn’t hire before.”

‘Right Mindset’

Wall Street giants have mostly avoided the spot market for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin due to regulatory uncertainty and “know your customer” rules. But they’re developing alternate ways to trade the volatile asset class, while exploring wider uses for the blockchain in areas such as payments and supply chains. 

Citi is advertising for a director-level digital asset risk manager to cover cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and decentralized finance, after it announced plans in November to hire as many as 100 staff to support digital asset capabilities for institutions. Citi is seeking candidates who have worked at traditional financial services or technology firms in addition to digital asset initiatives, according to a person briefed on the search.

Goldman Sachs has advertised in recent months for a vice president for its digital assets legal group, a vice president to work as a digital assets software engineer and an associate to work on digital assets in consumer wealth management and private wealth management. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The bank launched crypto derivatives trading last year and is exploring ways to use blockchain technology elsewhere in the business. 

JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management business, which looks after $2.7 trillion, is seeking someone to oversee blockchain strategy including crypto and digital tokens. The bank is also looking for a product manager and other roles for its Onyx Digital Assets service, a blockchain network for assets including debt and equities with more than 200 employees.

Competition for tech talent in particular “is incredibly strong,” said Charlotte Richards, head of talent acquisition at Starling Bank Ltd., a British online lender. “Software engineers with the right experience and the right mindset who suddenly find themselves available are likely to be in great demand.”

A crypto worker’s prospects will depend on their previous role, according to Sabrina Wilson, chief operating officer at Copper.co, a London-based firm that helps financial institutions develop blockchain infrastructure. “Tech, security, compliance and client management staff will be particularly in high demand,” said Wilson. “It is essential for compliance workers wanting to switch from traditional finance firms to understand anti-money laundering, crime prevention and know-your-customer requirements.”

Wilson herself joined Copper from Citi earlier this year, in a sign that it’s still a two-way street between banks and crypto during the retrenchment. Copper has added 75 staff in recent months, including its head of prime who joined from Bank of America Corp., as well as people from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Coinbase and the crypto firm BlockFi, Wilson said.

Fewer Offers

Some parts of Wall Street are more skeptical about hiring crypto industry veterans. One senior banking executive, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said his firm wasn’t interested in people who spent several years berating the banking establishment, only to change their minds when they wanted a job.

Salary bidding wars between firms have calmed down a little, as candidates were getting fewer offers, according to Zeth Couceiro, founder of crypto recruitment firm Plexus Resource Solutions. Still, some finance firms including payment providers are keen to take advantage of crypto job cuts to bolster their blockchain efforts, while job applicants are now looking forward to the stability that big traditional financial firms can offer, Couceiro said.

One former Coinbase employee, who also did not wish to be named discussing their former workplace, said they were leaving the sector and going into academia. 

Even with crypto prices far below their peaks, some tech-focused firms are still aiming to offer customers the chance to trade. Revolut Ltd. is creating a European crypto hub in Cyprus while increasing its overall crypto headcount by 20%, the London-based fintech firm said in August.

Open banking payments platform Plaid is also hiring for crypto-focused roles, a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based company said, while mobile payments provider Block Inc. has about 30 open roles in crypto listed on its website. 

Florida-based payments platform Stax hopes to have a crypto division up and running by early 2023 and is “absolutely open to hiring folks from crypto companies,” Sal Rehmetullah, the company’s president and co-founder, said in an interview. 

In the meantime, firms such as Coinbase are licking their wounds but looking to the future. A spokeswoman for the company said it’s continuing to hire for “mission-critical” roles. The firm is looking to fill about 60 positions in areas such as business operations and strategy, human resources and recruiting and legal and compliance, according to its website. 

“We are committed to bringing the full suite of Coinbase retail, institutional, and ecosystem products to new and existing markets,” the spokeswoman said in an email. “We remain focused on our mission of promoting economic freedom around the world.”

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.