Fidelity plans to offer Bitcoin services to retail customers

Customers on Fidelity could soon start buying Bitcoin through the brokerage platform supported by the company. If this service is launched soon, it could promote the institutional adoption of Bitcoin. Over the past year, there has been a notable rise in institutional investors flocking toward Bitcoin.

Fidelity wants to offer Bitcoin to retail investors

A report by the Wall Street Journal has said that customers of investment giant Fidelity could soon be able to purchase Bitcoin. Fidelity is a Boston-based investment firm that manages more than $34.4 million in retail accounts. It is also one of the largest fund managers globally.

The WSJ reported on Monday that Fidelity wanted to offer Bitcoin to individual investors, which could further promote the adoption of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. According to the journal, the company was yet to share the plans for this new offering with its clients.

Fidelity has shown outstanding commitment to helping retail clients access the investment space. The fund manager has an app that supports retail activities where customers can manage their investments from their mobile devices.

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Fidelity is yet to issue a formal announcement about this move. However, the initiative has been confirmed by other players in the investment and crypto community. The CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, has confirmed the development. During a New York SALT forum appearance, he said he heard rumors about the company’s plans.

Novogratz also said that the current plans being made by Fidelity to venture into the cryptocurrency space were the same as the plans being made by other leading global investment giants. Global investment firms such as Franklin Templeton and BlackRock Solutions have been launching plans for Bitcoin in what is seen as a rally towards increased institutional adoption.

Fidelity venture into the crypto industry

Fidelity has shown interest in the crypto sector for a while now. In April, there were reports that Fidelity, which doubles as the largest provider of 401(k) savings accounts in the United States, planned to launch a product that would allow employees to convert 20% of their retirement funds into Bitcoin. However, the exposure of retirement funds to crypto has attracted a lot of regulatory scrutiny.

In 2022, Fidelity unveiled two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that provide exposure to companies operating in the cryptocurrency and metaverse sectors. Fidelity has also applied with the SEC to launch a Bitcoin ETF, which, if approved, will provide customers with direct exposure to the digital asset.

In 2021, the macro director for Fidelity global, Jurrien Timmer, argued that Bitcoin offered immense benefits over gold. Timmer added to the long-standing debate that Bitcoin could replace gold as a store of value.

At the time, Timmer said that Bitcoin was becoming credible. He said that, unlike traditional gold, Bitcoin offered “greater convexity, making it suitable as a store of value. Several supporters of the asset have supported the superiority of Bitcoin over gold.

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