The huge American asset manager Fidelity Investment has its crypto platform Fidelity Crypto open to private investors. At the end of last year, the platform was already accessible to a limited number of users. Now the platform is available to everyone. The launch of the platform is striking because the past few weeks have been anything but prosperous in crypto land.
Millions of new crypto users?
With $4.5 trillion in assets, the asset manager is one of the largest asset managers in the world. In addition, the company has more than 37 million customers. The platform will offer commission-free trading to millions of new US clients. For the time being, Fidelity Crypto only offers bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH).
Fidelity Investments is one of the first and few major US financial institutions to take the plunge. Especially given the current anti-crypto sentiment in the United States, it is a striking choice for the asset manager. However, preparations for Fidelity Crypto have been underway since last summer, and the current strict regulation has not been a reason to halt the plans.
All in all it is a very good sign. Fidelity’s step is an example for other institutions. With the launch of Fidelity Crypto, the threshold for institutions that are still hesitating about crypto adoption has been lowered a lot.
Recent studies have shown that many potential investors need the trust of traditional financial institutions when investing in crypto. For many, the crypto sector is strange and incomprehensible. Fidelity Crypto is exactly what many investors are looking for right now. Fidelity Digital Assets has been around since 2018, but is only available to institutional investors.
Divide between east and west
Recently we talked about the contrast between the West and Asia in terms of institutional crypto adoption. Hong Kong recently expressed its ambition to become a crypto hub and launched a pro-crypto legal framework. DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, has already applied for licenses to provide crypto services in Hong Kong.
With the launch of Fidelity Crypto, that gap between East and West is narrowing somewhat. If other Western institutions follow Fidelity’s example, that trend will probably continue.