In Brief:
- CitiGroup Inc. will hire 100 people for its new digital assets unit.
- The aim is to boost its expertise in blockchain and digital assets.
- Those hired will be based in Singapore, New York, London, and Tel Aviv.
Citigroup Inc, the leading global bank, is all set to hire 100 personnel to boost its expertise in blockchain, digital assets, and digital currencies to successfully deploy its new digital assets unit.
Those hired to work on the new unit will be based in Singapore, New York, London, and Tel Aviv, which are strategic locations for Citi’s institutional-clients group (ICG) business and technology, as well as talent hubs for blockchain and digital assets expertise.
Puneet Singhvi will act as the new head of digital assets inside the ICG. He will report to Emily Turner, who supervises business development for the broader group. Singhvi‘s team will assist the bank in strategizing and outlining different businesses inside ICG such as trading, investment banking, securities services, and its treasury and trade solutions arm via blockchain and digital assets.
“We believe in the potential of blockchain and digital assets including the benefits of efficiency, instant processing, fractionalization, programmability, and transparency,” Turner said in the memo to staff. “Puneet and team will focus on engaging with key internal and external stakeholders including clients, startups and regulators.”
Citigroup in its email statement said that the bank is focused on assessing the requirements of their clients in the digital asset space. Prior to offering any products and services, CitiGroup is studying these markets as well as the evolving regulatory landscape and associated risks. The aim is to meet the bank’s own regulatory framework and supervisory expectations.
The latest hiring is presumed to be the country’s biggest banks’ efforts to ramp up and expand the world of cryptocurrencies. Not only global banks but also e-commerce giants like Amazon are looking to hire digital asset specialists for the AWS unit. All these initiatives can potentially help in the mass adoption of digital assets.