Crypto’s latest hiring spree is coming from an unexpected section of the workforce: former police officers in the U.K.
Some of the biggest crypto firms, including Coinbase, Chainalysis and Binance, are among those actively hiring former law enforcement employees, and offering them more than double and triple their current pay, according to Bloomberg News.
In 2018, the U.K. Government set aside funding to train 250 officers to become experts in the emerging digital currencies. Known as crypto tactical advisers, the officers were taught to investigate, seize and realize the value of digital currencies. Now, many of them are leaving law enforcement and joining the private sector to do the same work for more money.
The officers fill a need for growing crypto companies that face a constant threat from hackers, and are preparing for countries like the U.S. To institute heavy regulations.
Cybercrime officers are leaving law enforcement at more than triple the rate of the rest of the police force, according to Bloomberg-reported estimates from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the representative body that advocates on behalf of the U.K. Police force.
The NPCC did not immediately respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment.
At least 15 police have left law enforcement to join a crypto firm in recent months, a number the NPCC expects to increase significantly over the next 18 months, Bloomberg reported.
In a statement to Coins2Day, a spokesperson for Chainalysis confirmed that the company is actively “hiring ex-law enforcement talent (cyber and otherwise),” but declined to comment on their role at the company at this point.
“[Cybercrime police] can play an integral role in keeping our customers’ funds safe and secure as we work toward becoming the most trusted on-ramp to the cryptoeconomy,” a Coinbase spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Representatives from Coinbase and Binance did not immediately respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment.
While the former law enforcement officials fill a much needed role for the crypto companies, their departure leaves a hole in the police force in a high-crime area. And each departing officer has years of training and experience under the belt that is difficult to simply replace, the NPCC told Bloomberg.
“The loss of experienced cyber officers and staff is a significant problem for us,” Andrew Gould, head of the NPCC’s cybercrime unit, told Bloomberg. “Whilst we don’t begrudge them a well deserved pay rise operationally we can’t afford to lose such highly skilled staff at that rate.”
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