HSBC announces entry into crypto with tokenization job openings

HSBC, a leading United Kingdom bank, has revealed its intent to venture into cryptocurrencies by announcing key job openings in the sector.

In particular, the bank is hiring a Product Director for tokenization use cases and digital assets, job adverts posted on January 30 indicate.

According to the bank, the roles have been necessitated by the evolving nature of the crypto sector and involved risk appetite.

“Because Digital Assets is a new topic and strategic & risk appetite considerations are evolving quickly, the Head of Tokenisation will be required to make complex business and project decisions that contribute to a high value, strategic initiative,” the bank said.

In this line, HSBC hinted that the ideal candidate would be instrumental in the lender’s future product, dubbed GPB&W Digital Assets.

Driving cryptocurrency strategy

In particular, the job description noted that the candidates would have the external role of representing the company to ‘regulators, clients, and the digital assets ecosystem to position HSBC’ as a ‘leader and innovator in furtherance of the digital assets strategy.’

At the same time, successful candidates for Product Manager for digital assets will be responsible for driving the cryptocurrency agenda.

“The Product Manager for Digital Assets will be required to build strategic frameworks and policies to help drive complex business, project and governance decisions. This will include the strategic creation and day-to-day management of governance forums and committees to efficiently and transparently drive the digital assets agenda,” the bank said.

Handling regulators

For both roles, HSBC is looking for individuals who can operate in an ambiguous environment with knowledge of handling the changing regulatory landscape. Notably, the United Kingdom is among global jurisdictions accelerating the push towards enacting new crypto regulations amid increasing consumer interest.

HSBC now joins other established banking giants like JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) in offering cryptocurrency products.

Finally, it is worth noting that banks that have taken the same route have mainly focused on a set of clients, mainly wealthy account holders. However, with HSBC looking for tokenization, the bank might seek to offer broader services.