If you know bitcoins, Capital One Financial Corp. wants to hire you.
Specifically, Cap One is looking to hire data scientists with extensive knowledge of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and other emerging technology, according to a job posting on its career page. First noted by Coindesk, the job posting is for a position in San Francisco, Calif., and duties include, “Investigating the impact of new technologies like Google Glass, Leap Motion, smart watches, Bitcoin, and iBeacons on the future of mobile banking and the financial world of tomorrow.”
Interestingly, the position also requires applicants to have at least a year’s worth of experience in data mining.
It seems like the role will be to observe and analyze these new, disruptive, technologies — Coindesk notes that its unlikely that Capital One is gearing up to enter the cryptocurrency space, especially with the company’s previous reservations with Bitcoin and other virtual currency.
However, the new role at Capital One does show that even traditional banks are starting to take notice of the potential that cryptocurrency’s and other technology, like wearable devices and mobile beacons with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capability, can have on the future of finance. For instance, MasterCard has taken an interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, assigning a number of lobbyists in Washington, D.C., to focus their efforts solely on “Bitcoin and mobile payments.” The lobbyists were assigned to specifically focus on congressional hearings in the House and Senate that covered virtual currencies and Bitcoin. MarketWatch reports that almost every major bank has published its own report on Bitcoin, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo.
Bitcoin is appealling to banks because it offers “…no or low transaction costs from a peer-to-peer payments system, and potential brand recognition from trialing an innovative technology,” as JP Morgan Analyst John Normand wrote. It’s also a fast and efficient way to move money both domestically and internationally. As Capital One apparently has determined.