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HSBC has listed tokenization jobs but has clarified that it is not venturing into cryptocurrency.
The vacancies were listed at HSBC's Global Private Banking and Wealth (GPBW) business in the UK.
The bank had posted a listing for a Product Director for tokenization use cases and digital assets who will be responsible for creation, optimisation and running of governance and policy.
HSBC was also looking for a Global Product Manager For Digital assets who would be responsible for a the operation of creation, optimisation, and governance and policy.
However, at the time of writing, both jobs are no longer available on HSBC's website.
In a statement, the bank said, "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."
Read more: Singapore Blockchain, Crypto Investments Climb in 2022
It added, "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."
Tokenization, Not Crypto
Despite HSBC's tokenization interest, the bank clarified with Blockhead that it is "not venturing into cryptocurrency."
"The job postings reflect our appetite to explore the opportunities that blockchain, particularly asset tokenization, offers," the spokesperson said.
Whilst cryptocurrency is usually synonymous with tokenization, and often (mistakenly) blockchain, it's clear that HSBC is attempting to make a differentiation in its Web3 ambitions.
HSBC has infamously taken an anti-crypto stance over the years. As recently as December 2022, chief executive of HSBC, Noel Quinn said the bank is "not getting into the crypto world, crypto trading, crypto exchanges."
“I do worry about the sustainability of the valuations of crypto and I have done for a while. I’m not going to predict where it will go in the future," Quinn stated.
"As a product, I questioned its suitability for many of the consumers in the marketplace today. So that’s why HSBC is more negative on crypto than other banks."
HSBC's tokenization-not-crypto venture could be the long awaited step towards Web3 we've all been waiting for.
