Fidelity is considering a plan to implement Bitcoin trading on its brokerage platform.
Bitcoin trading coming soon on Fidelity’s brokerage platform
We are talking about the world’s fourth-largest mutual fund and pension investment and management company.
It manages total assets of $4.5 trillion and boasts 34 million retail investors. Two decidedly important factors that have led Fidelity to expand its financial services offering into the world of cryptocurrencies. Now it is the turn of Bitcoin trading dedicated to individual investors, and the company has a plan in place to do just that.
Fidelity is weighing a plan to allow individual investors to trade #bitcoin on its brokerage platform
– WSJ
— Blockworks (@Blockworks_) September 12, 2022
As mentioned earlier, the Boston-based company with $24 billion in revenues is not new to the crypto sector.
Thanks to the vision of its CEO, Abigail Johnson, Fidelity was one of the first in mainstream finance to champion cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, blockchain.
History of Fidelity’s relationship with cryptocurrencies
In 2015, it started its Bitcoin mining business, allowing retail clients to track their investments through a link to Coinbase.
In early 2018, it allowed its corporate clients to add digital assets to the retirement plans it managed for them. A little later that same year, Fidelity took on the Bitcoin trading business, initially offering it to hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Two years ago, in 2020, it opened its own crypto fund for wealthier clients.
Coming to the current year, shortly after mid-April 2022, Fidelity announced to retail clients the possibility of allocating part of their savings deposited in retirement plans in Bitcoin.
This type of investment will be managed in the same way as with a traditional mutual fund, and even employees will be able to decide to allocate a percentage of their retirement funds in BTC.
The percentage, to avoid exposing them to the risks of high market volatility, will be limited, and the fee will be between 0.75% and 0.90% of the total resources dedicated to digital assets.
Michael Saylor, when he was still CEO of MicroStrategy, immediately revealed his enthusiasm in a tweet:
MicroStrategy looks forward to working with @DigitalAssets to become the first public company to offer their employees the option to invest in bitcoin as part of our 401(k) program.https://t.co/Za33yj82Qv
— Michael Saylor
(@saylor) April 26, 2022
The decision, however, did not meet with much approval in the eyes of the two senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tina Smith of Minnesota, who expressed great concern in a letter to Abigail Johnson.
Indeed, the two Democratic senators argue that cryptocurrencies could be too risky an investment for those who allocate part of the resources dedicated to their retirement funds in this way.
Fidelity’s latest news
Fidelity has not yet shared its upcoming plans with its clients.
One thing is for sure, an investment company of this magnitude will help bring the world of digital assets closer to the masses, making it easier to access and use.
This is still a technology unknown to many, as it is relatively new and complex in many respects.
The market needs these kinds of services, and Fidelity’s introduction of Bitcoin trading for retail investors will certainly pave the way for much-acclaimed mass adoption.
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