Fidelity Launches Institutional Platform For Bitcoin And Ethereum

Fidelity Investments is spinning off a stand alone company dedicated exclusively to bringing cryptocurrencies to institutional investors. Called Fidelity Digital Assets, the limited liability corporation based in Boston will provide enterprise-grade custody solutions, a cryptocurrency trading execution platform and institutional advising services 24 hours a day, seven days a week designed to align with blockchain's always-on trading cycle. Already, Fidelity Investments provides financial services for $7.2 trillion in customer assets and provides clearing, custody and investment services for 13,000 institutional advisory firms and brokers. But the fifth largest asset manager in the world has so far largely limited its cryptocurrency exposure to a few periphery services and through donations via their non-profit Fidelity Charitable.

With Fidelity Digital Asset's first customers being on-boarded now, and general availability scheduled for early 2019, the launch of the subsidiary with 100 employees marks the latest, and perhaps largest push into cryptocurrency by an institutional asset manager.

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