Fidelity Investments will soon add Ethereum custody and trading services to its suite of investment offerings for institutional clients.
"With the Ethereum Merge completed, many investors are looking at Ethereum through a new lens," said Fidelity in a statement, referencing Ethereum's change to the environmentally friendly proof of stake model.
"Institutional Ethereum capabilities are coming to the Fidelity Digital Assets platform on October 28, 2022," Fidelity Digital Assets wrote in an email to customers, quoted by Cointelegraph. The offer will only be accessible to preexisting customers who already trade Bitcoin in some way.
For a very long period of time, Fidelity has endorsed forms of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, but has revealed that it feels like Bitcoin is just more of an enhanced form of money. Presently, Fidelity provides two exchange-traded forms of cryptocurrency that are devoted to the metaverse along with digital payments. According to Fidelity in a recent memo, consumers will be able to purchase, sell, and transfer Ether in the near future.
This past April, Fidelity also made the announcement that it intends to invest directly into Bitcoin, in terms of 401(k) retirement savings accounts. About a year ago, Fidelity announced that 90% of its customer base was interested in obtaining access to Bitcoin, in addition to other forms of cryptocurrency. As a result, many asset managers are prepared to perceive Ethereum as an asset rather than an investment fad. The advancement to Ethereum usage seemed to cause Ethereum to drastically lag, in terms of supply.
According to Cointelegraph, on September 13, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz revealed that Fidelity is hoping to provide Bitcoin to its investor base, which is worth approximately 34.4 million.
Fidelity is currently working toward the ultimate goal of launching a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund in Canada, but is not able to do so in the United States based upon roadblocks from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/10/19/fidelitys-crypto-platform-to-add-ethereum-trading-for-institutional-clients/
- https://decrypt.co/112499/fidelity-ethereum-trading-institutions
- https://cointelegraph.com/news/4-5t-asset-manager-fidelity-offers-eth-custody-and-trading-to-clients
- https://twitter.com/brucefenton/status/1582806632425062401