With the recent closures of several crypto-friendly banks, Fidelity Investments has taken the initiative to address the gap between digital and traditional finance. Prior to this month, the Fidelity Crypto platform was only accessible to the firm’s institutional clients and a small number of waitlisted customers.
Forbes reports that investors can now purchase and sell bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) using Fidelity Digital Assets’ custody and trading services. Clients of Fidelity are currently unable to move cryptocurrencies into or out of their Fidelity accounts, and the company has not yet provided a date for when this may be available.
Fidelity Digital’s trading services are limited to US citizens aged 18 years or older residing in any of the 36 states where the company operates.
Fidelity Launches Commission-Free Trading
In December of last year, the trading firm announced the debut of Fidelity Crypto. The company will offer commission-free trading of bitcoin and ether through Fidelity Crypto but will add a 1% fee to each transaction. Fidelity refers to the fee as a “spread” and defines it as the variance between the price at which Fidelity Digital Assets executes an order and the price at which the order is filled. Clients will be able to see this spread in their execution price.
Calls Mount For Fidelity To Halt Its Crypto Ventures
The crypto operations of Fidelity have been received with criticism. In December, three U.S. senators requested in a letter to Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson that the company discontinue its Bitcoin 401(k) plan. Senators cited the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX as the reason the company modified its Bitcoin offering for retirement funds.
