The cryptocurrency hedge fund Quantreq has decided to expand its team by hiring experts from Wall Street. Although the crypto market has been in a bear trend since the beginning of the year, Quantreq Capital Markets does not seem to be worried about it. And indeed, it remains positive about the future of the space.

The company decided to hire several important traders and bankers from Wall Street firms since it wants to increase the amount of managed assets which currently is over $1 billion dollars.

Quantreq is a blockchain branch from the US fund administrator known as North Street Global. The firm decided to hire David Goldstein, a veteran of HSBC, that will be working as Chief Operating Officer. Another addition is Josh Gibson. Mr Gibson worked in the past for Citibank’s institutional FX desk in New York.

There are several companies in the cryptocurrency space that are hiring talents and important figures from Wall Street and traditional financial companies. Due to the fact that the crypto market expanded in 2017, there was an increased interest for virtual currencies and blockchain technology.

Coinbase, one of the largest and most important companies in the cryptocurrency space, hired an expert from the company Charles Schwab Corp. Firms in the crypto space are searching for experts with knowledge in financial regulatory issues. There is a growing interest from institutional investors in cryptocurrencies and they are trying to enter the market through a compliant and regulated platform.

Alex Mascioli, Quantreq CEO, said on the matter:

“We are extremely bullish in cryptocurrency and the fact that more institutional firms are coming into the market is a reinforcement that it is here to stay. With Fidelity’s big announcement this week and Goldman Sachs further investing in the space via BitGo, investment in experienced human capital to serve our institutional clients is a priority.”

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will be launching an institutional-grade platform for investors. The new platform will be known as Bakkt and it will be leveraging traditional financial instruments to trade virtual currencies in a regulatory-compliant way.