For years, Jennifer Thornton’s career has hummed along a rather traditional path. As a portfolio manager, she spent over a decade at BlackRock. Her duties included trading risk-off assets such as government debt.
However, in 2021, Thornton’s career changed dramatically. She left her post to the world’s largest asset manager and entered the world of Web3.
“There are a lot of opportunities here,” Thornton said of the crypto industry. That’s especially true for women, she added.
“It’s exciting,” Thornton said. “People who come from other industries, bring knowledge, bring skills and apply this new way to this new asset class (
Now she spends her days in the crypto trench, exchanging tokens like Bitcoin or one Monkey JPEG. This is two emerging asset classes on the opposite side of the risk spectrum compared to financial instruments traded during traditional financial days.
“When I work at home, my kids walk by my desk, then they stop at their truck and ask, ‘Mommy, what are you doing?’,” Thornton said. Decryption.
“I said, ‘Oh, well, these are these sloppy penguins, these are Lil Pudees,” she said.
Her mother added, “I think I’m working for Bitcoin.” (She doesn’t.)
Jennifer Thornton. Photo: Bitwise
Thornton is a Senior Index Fund Portfolio Manager at Bitwise, The Crypto-focused asset manager was founded in 2017, providing a variety of investment vehicles to clients, from Crypto Index funds to ETFs and private funds.
Thornton is responsible for implementing investment strategies in large portfolios as part of her role in the company. However, she also helps manage unconventional funds like the Bitise Blue-chip NFT index fund, which targets more encrypted crowds.
“Like where I am and a lot of what I really do, it’s at the intersection of two spaces,” Thornton said. Decryption.
Thornton has seen an increasing number of traditional financial experts flock to the crypto industry as institutions increasingly embrace asset classes, and lawmakers clear the path to reduce federal regulatory oversight in the industry and fostering US growth
Although current employment data on the crypto industry is scarce, a report from a study by research firm K33, focusing on digital assets, found that 199,000 people had employment as of 2023, with the majority of those employees working in exchanges and brokerages or crypto-focused financial companies.
The tally is small compared to the more than 6 million people employed in the finance and insurance sector in the same year, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But now, with more and more institutions, states and public companies investing in asset classes and increasing the price of Bitcoin ever, the highest ever, over $108,000 in January, some experts say the crypto industry is poised to attract even more talent from more traditional employment sectors.
Recent Reports from the World Economic Forum show Over 10% of global GDP can be stored on the blockchain by the end of 2025. This is a significant increase in blockchain use, where employing the industry could potentially be employed by Web3. According to To RecruitBlock, a crypto-focused recruitment service company.
As Web3 and traditional finance become more and more intertwined, it is people like Thornton who continue to bridge the gaps between those worlds.
Thornton said the difference between the world of emerging technologies and traditional finance can sometimes be harsh. The Crypto market is unlike the usual market and never approaches it. Additionally, the TradFi system “usually there are two decimal points in the number of shares,” while cryptocurrencies can appear at eight or 12 decimal points.
These differences aim to build balance, reduce slippage and tighten market exposure, just like they used Thornton and her colleagues to manage their TradFi portfolio to manage their Crypto-focused portfolio.
“If you trade assets at a price equal to the size of Bitcoin, if you are trading 10.48 or 10.483527397, you need to get that level of accuracy,” Thornton said. “They hired me at Bitwise to manage my funds with the same level of accuracy, rigor and professionalism that we did at BlackRock.”
She was asked if she felt a gap between the world of Tradfi and the professionalism that guided a somewhat cultivated interaction. The body’s spirit Of the trench on Crypto Twitter (aka X), Thornton said, “I’m hiding more to tell you the truth.”
Edited by James Rubin