Capital One appears to have an interest in Bitcoin. At least, the bank, which holds the 128th spot on the Fortune 500 list, wants to hire someone who will investigate it.
The financial giant recently posted a job listing, first noticed by Coindesk, for a data scientist that will conduct research on the impact of technologies including “Google Glass, Leap Motion, smart watches, Bitcoin, and iBeacons” [emphasis mine] on the future of banking.
In the job listing, Capital One also highlighted its intention to “change banking for *good*” [emphasis theirs] while also pointing to its past as a pioneer in statistical monitoring for credit cards. Capital One's development team is working on “the next wave of disruption” for the financial industry.
The mention of Bitcoin was a small part of a larger job posting, so it is important to take this with a grain of salt. This does not mean Capital One is getting into the cryptocurrency business now or any time soon. However, it does seem to indicate that the bank is studying it. If it decides more money can be made getting on the cryptocurrency gravy train, then that’s likely what they will do.
It is worth pointing out that the other technologies mentioned, wearables, new input methods and iBeacons all seem to have a bright (and mainstream) role in the conventional banking future. Capital One is one of the nation's ten largest banks. If they move forward on Bitcoin, it could accelerate the industry's growth exponentially.
