Investment Giant Fidelity Launches Digital Assets Services Targeting Institutional Investors
By Molly Jane Zuckerman U.S. investment firm Fidelity, which administers over $7.2 trillion in client assets, has announced the launch of a new company, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, according to an Oct. 15 press release. The new company will offer custody and trade execution services for digital assets, targeting institutional investors like “hedge funds, family offices and market intermediaries,” and will not for now be open to retail investors. According to the press release, Fidelity Digital Assets will focus on providing a “secure, compliant, and institutional-grade omnibus storage solution for bitcoin, ether and other digital assets.” Tom Jessop, head of the newly-created business, is quoted in as saying that Fidelity began exploring blockchain and crypto “several years ago,” telling CNBC in an interview today that the idea of commercializing a “standalone” crypto firm began in mid-2017. Fidelity cites research from Greenwich Associates that found t...