Writing a new chapter in the story of how traditional financial institutions approach crypto, investment giant Fidelity is expanding its crypto offerings. The company, which manages over $9.9 trillion in assets, invited applications for the early-access list of its new product, Fidelity Crypto, on 3 November 2022.
Fidelity Crypto is a crypto trading platform designed for retail users in the US to buy, sell, and secure Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) with as little as $1. The platform will integrate both your traditional and crypto investments all in one place, a new update from the company reveals.
Get on the early-access list to trade bitcoin and ethereum and discover educational resources that make crypto a lot less cryptic. https://t.co/n1akhp2gBg pic.twitter.com/sZjQo7qVNg
— Fidelity Investments (@Fidelity) November 3, 2022
The company has been taking baby steps into the world of crypto. Fidelity Investments recently launched an Ethereum Index Fund for its institutional and HNI clients. The fund offers investors exposure to ETH. The company also allowed its employees to save 20% of their retirement money in Bitcoin earlier this year.
The development puts Fidelity in direct competition with all other leading crypto exchanges in the United States.
The new crypto offering will be powered by its subsidiary, Fidelity Digital Assets. Fidelity will not be charging any commission on trades in the beginning. However, there will be a 1% spread on every trade. Spread is the difference between the buy and sell price quoted for assets.
Despite being offered by a mainstream financial institution, Fidelity Crypto will not allow direct bank-to-crypto transfers to fund the Fidelity Crypto account. Users will have to fund the account through individual and joint Fidelity brokerage account.
To access the platform, users need to sign up for early access waitlist and on receiving an invite, users can open an account and start trading. Fidelity Crypto is focusing on educating users first before they start trading or investing the volatility-prone asset. The educational plan includes sending updates and educational content to the inboxes of users.
