Fidelity Investments is making a move into cryptocurrencies through the launch of a new company offering institutional investors custody and trade execution services for digital assets.
Fidelity Digital Asset Services is promising to manage bitcoin and the likes for sophisticated investors such as hedge funds, family offices and market intermediaries.
The new venture is predicated on the belief that institutional investors are keen to jump into cryptocurrencies but are waiting on the sidelines because of a lack of enterprise-quality custody and trade execution services.
Fidelity says it will provide a secure, compliant, and institutional-grade omnibus storage solution for bitcoin, ether and other digital assets. The firm will also tap a proven internal crossing engine and smart order router for trade execution of digital assets and is promising top-level client support services.
Tom Jessop, head, Fidelity Digital Assets, says: "In our conversations with institutions, they tell us that in order to engage with digital assets in a meaningful way, they need a trusted platform provider to enter this space. These institutions require a sophisticated level of service and security, equal to the experience they’re used to when trading stocks or bonds.
"With Fidelity Digital Assets, we’re building a scalable infrastructure for digital assets that meets the expectations of what it means to work with Fidelity, while leveraging unique capabilities of the blockchain to create a completely new offering."