Fidelity Wants to Give Investment Advice in the Metaverse Say Trademark Filings

The $4.5 trillion asset management firm Fidelity Investments has filed three new trademark applications covering a host of Web3 products and services, including an NFT marketplace and a crypto trading platform in the metaverse.

Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on December 21 under the serial numbers 97727409, 97727473, and 97727439, respectively, the patent applications are primarily associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring textual and visual material, while also providing a variety of services linked to virtual worlds.

These include an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of digital media, referral services for investment advice and financial planning in the metaverse, virtual real estate investing, and crypto trading and exchange services.

Notably, the patent applications also target investment services for mutual funds and retirement fund investment services in the metaverse.

Fidelity is eyeing educational services that include “conducting classes, workshops, seminars and conferences in the field of investments and in the field of marketing financial services in the metaverse and other virtual worlds.”

Fidelity unfazed by latest crypto crash

The Boston-based company has filed its newest patent applications less than two months after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda Research, which not only saw the prices of major cryptocurrencies plummet but also shattered faith in the future of the wider crypto industry.

With Fidelity recently launching an early-access waitlist for Fidelity Crypto, a new product that will let retail investors trade Bitcoin and Ethereum from their phones with zero fees, the firm, however, is sending a positive signal to other players in the sector.

In April this year, Fidelity, which is also America’s largest provider of 401(k) retirement accounts, announced plans for a new product offering companies and their participating employees access to Bitcoin.

The move has been heavily criticized by some U.S. lawmakers, with a group of senators, including the long-time crypto critic Elizabeth Warren, last month warning the firm against offering Bitcoin to its customers following the collapse of FTX.