<p>Varun Paul, the head of the fintech hub at the Bank of England, has said he has left to take up a role at Fireblocks, ending a nearly 14-year stint at the UK central bank. </p> <p>Although it is not yet clear what role he will take at the custody platform, a person familiar with the matter told The Block that Paul is set to join the firm's corporate strategy team.</p> <p>"16 years after starting my first internship and more than 13 years after starting as a graduate, today I’ve parted ways with the Bank of England," he wrote in a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6917599992018784257/">LinkedIn post</a> on Wednesday.</p> <p>Paul's tenure at the bank spans a period of significant change. According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent around two and a half years from September 2018 leading a project on the future of the financial system. He was named head of the fintech hub in February 2021. </p> <p>The Block contacted Paul, Fireblocks and the Bank of England for comment but had not heard back by the time of publication. </p> <p>The hiring move points to a growing trend of officials formerly housed at public entities, such as central bankers, politicians and regulators, moving in-house at crypto and fintech firms in the UK.</p> <p>Last year, Austrian exchange Bitpanda hired former Financial Conduct Authority official Matthias Bauer-Langgartner as its managing director for UK and Ireland. Zodia's chief compliance officer Chris Kiew-Smith is also ex-FCA. Alongside these, ex-UK chancellor Philip Hammond <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/120218/former-chancellor-philip-hammond-uk-digital-assets-risk-finance">joined Copper</a> as a senior advisor last year. </p>