BlackRock and Fidelity are launching initiatives to expand their crypto offerings to a larger swathe of consumers.
That means they must hire more crypto experts with experience to help them do it.
A co-founder of Digital Asset Trading firm Wintermute, Yoann Turpin, said his company has seen employees leave for non-crypto firms like banks and hedge funds.
We're actually seeing really good talent going back to TradFi, Turpin said, using a portmanteau of traditional and finance.
It's among the unforeseen effects of huge institutions entering the crypto space, he said.
Turpin, who spoke on a panel at CCData's CCDAS conference in London last week, said that the flurry of applications for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange traded funds is a sign of'more third-party validation' of the industry.
The pandemic's surge in crypto prices captivated bankers in droves.
Even though cryptocurrencies crashed last year, many people remained put.
That trend may be changing.
Among the recent departures was longtime Goldman Sachs managing director Danielle Johnson, who left the company over the summer - a year after she joined Credit Suisse.
Shortly after Johnson's departure, Galaxy lost its head of Europe, Tim Grant, amid a reshuffle.
Deus X Capital, a family office, has since launched a family business, Deus X Capital, which will invest in institutional capital markets, fintech, and digital assets.
In January, Galaxy lost Chris Berner, its co-head of global electronic crypto trading. Berner had joined the Bank of America, where he was head of electronic foreign exchange trading.
The head of global electronic foreign exchange trading at Wells Fargo has joined the company.
The talent from bankrupt crypto firms have also landed fresh jobs in traditional finance. Rachel Willis, the former Communications Manager for BlockFi, joined BNY Mellon's digital asset team as chief of staff in April.
BNY Mellon also tapped former Zodia Custody CEO Maxime de Guillebon as its head of digital asset product earlier this year.
Former Bitstamp CEO Julian Sawyer, who has clocked up experience in places like Accenture and Starling Bank, has been named as the chairman of the board of De Guillebon.
Some were moved in 2022, like Carolyn Vadino, who joined BlackRock last summer.
institutions are preparing to put in the money to expand their operations into crypto.
Bosses at banks, hedge funds, asset managers and other finance firms are increasingly hiring seasoned professionals for their crypto operations, a Coalition Greenwich report found last month.
Large institutional moves are helping overall sentiment in the crypto sector.
Crypto is a new arena for young, tech-savvy investors, and market analysts suggest it's becoming a new battleground. The idea of Turpin, who holds trading positions in finance firms such as market-maker Optiver, has been echoed by investors.
The ETF's push is probably less impactful in terms of generating new money coming into this space, he said.
The surge in sentiment doesn't just help investors.
Turpin said there was no need for a bailout of the symbiosis.