Wall Street is proposing substantial pay rises in exchange for building a crypto army

<p>Firms are expanding their crypto research and trading operations — and offering wage increases of up to 50% for comparable professions to attract expertise, recruiters say.</p> <p>When bitcoin came onto the scene more than a decade ago, Wall Street leaders scoffed. They're already offering attractive incentives to crypto recruits, building an army of fanatics within the typically conservative sphere.</p> <p>According to Revelio Labs, which scrapes LinkedIn for data, some of the largest banks and financial organisations have added over 1,000 crypto-related roles since 2018. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among companies that increased recruiting as demand for rapidly growing virtual currencies grew.</p> <p>The growth of Wall Street's legions reflects an uneasy and at times contentious relationship with bitcoin. Banks mainly remained silent as bitcoin values soared to new heights and experienced periodic falls.</p> <p>Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, described it as "worthless" in October, after deeming it a fraud in 2017. However, growing global acceptability and client demand have eroded organisations' opposition, prompting them to expand research teams and trading desks — and, according to recruiters, to give price boosts of up to 50% for comparable tasks in order to attract talent.</p> <p>"Banks cannot afford to take the risk that their clients would seek these services elsewhere, therefore they must expand," said Alan Johnson, managing director of Wall Street pay firm Johnson Associates. "This is a significant asset, a significant opportunity, and they require personnel quickly. They are willing to pay a high price."</p> <p>According to Revelio Labs, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley were among among those adding workers. The majority of firms either declined to comment on the data or give hiring statistics, or did not reply to requests for comment. Citigroup stated in a statement that clients are becoming increasingly interested in cryptocurrency and that