Fidelity Digital Assets is now live, offering the trading and securing of digital assets for a “select group of eligible” institutional investors. The firm is starting out with a Bitcoin custody service focused on the needs of hedge funds, family offices, pensions, and endowments.
Although the solution is a result of several months of work, the firm made an official announcement on Twitter on March 7:
We are live with a select group of eligible clients and will continue rolling out slowly. Our solutions are focused on the needs of hedge funds, family offices, pensions, endowments, other institutional investors. More on our project: https://t.co/EkJ2pWJt2Y #DCBlockchain
— Fidelity Digital Assets (@DigitalAssets) March 7, 2019
Fidelity Digital Assets is a branch of the renowned asset management company, Fidelity Investments. Fidelity has been in the crypto spotlight recently, after announcing the development of their custody service and even participating in the Lightning Torch event.
The first announcement of a custody service from Fidelity came in October 2018. Since then the institution has worked with auditors refining operations, risk and compliance policies, and procedures to be able to bring institutional investors into the crypto space. Although starting with “select clients,” the firm hopes to bring their service to a broader set of institutional investors with time.
This information was warmly received by the crypto community. For many in the community, it is considered a bullish sign for the crypto market, as explained in the video below:
The year 2019 is gradually becoming what many thought 2018 was going to be. Institutional investors have been moving more slowly than most analysts predicted, but earlier in the year, Morgan Creek Digital onboarded 2 institutional investors. More institutions are expected to come in with their digital asset solution as 2019 progresses.
Fidelity Digital Assets currently offers custody and trading to their select clients. This solves a problem of trust for institutional investors who want to get involved with digital assets in a meaningful, transparent, and legal way. Institutions cannot trade digital assets the way individuals can, and hence need solutions like this one created by Fidelity Digital.
Fidelity’s solution only applies to Bitcoin for now, although other cryptocurrencies may be considered for the platform in the future. The firm, however, would not like to touch cryptocurrencies that may be deemed to be securities or have hard forks in the near future.
Do you think this Fidelity news will trigger an institutional FOMO? Share your thoughts in the comments.
