Tim Fries
A report from Monday, September 12th, stated that Fidelity Investments is looking to offer Bitcoin to its retail investors. The company boasts more than 34 million brokerage accounts from such investors.
Fidelity Might Soon Offer Bitcoin to Retail Investors
Early on Monday, September 12th, Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz said “a bird told me Fidelity is going to shift their retail customers into crypto soon enough.” He also stated that he is very much “hoping that the bird is right.”
While Fidelity didn’t immediately offer any precise comments stating that “while we have nothing new to announce, expanding our offerings to enable broader access to digital assets remains an area of focus”, a WSJ report indicated otherwise.
According to the report, sources familiar with the matter say that Fidelity is keenly eying the possibility of offering Bitcoin to its numerous retail investors. While nothing is set in stone, such a move wouldn’t be entirely unexpected as Fidelity has so far been fairly crypto-friendly.
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Fidelity’s Relationship with Bitcoin
Fidelity Investments, one of the largest brokers in the world, has maintained an interest in Bitcoin since it started mining the currency in 2014. The company has been increasing its offering with regard to the world’s foremost cryptocurrency slowly but continuously over the years.
In 2018, they started offering Bitcoin trading to institutional investors and hedge funds. In early 2022, Fidelity started allowing corporations to include this digital asset in 401(k) retirement funds. If Fidelity moves forward with its idea to offer BTC to retail investors, it would mark another milestone in bringing crypto fully into the mainstream.
Earlier this year, BlackRock made a major deal with Coinbase which gave institutions direct exposure to spot BTC. Another milestone that could hasten widespread crypto adoption is the recent creation of a crypto-focused PAC that aims to bring about legislation and regulation friendly toward the sector.
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About the author
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird’s US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
