If you were looking for a sign that crypto was going mainstream, this is probably it.
Fidelity Investments, which began a custody service to store Bitcoin earlier this year, will buy and sell the world’s most popular digital asset for institutional customers within a few weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Boston-based firm, one of the largest asset managers in the world, created Fidelity Digital Assets in October in a bet that Wall Street’s nascent appetite for trading and safeguarding digital currencies will grow. It also puts Fidelity a step ahead of its top competitors that have mostly stayed on the sidelines so far. The firm said in October that it would offer over-the-counter trade execution and order routing for Bitcoin early this year.
With this move, Fidelity joins brokerages Robinhood and E-Trade in offering cryptocurrency trading. Retail investors however will be disappointed to learn that the asset management giant will only offer the service to institutional clients.
I’m not sure if they’re missing much though – Fidelity’s service is focused on Bitcoin. That said, company spokeswoman Arlene Roberts told Bloomberg that Fido “will continue to roll out our services over the coming weeks and months based on our clients’ needs, jurisdictions, and other factors,” so there may be more in store.
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