The financial services giant Fidelity Investments is considering a move that would allow its individual brokerage customers to trade Bitcoin (BTC), according to a Wall Street Journal report.
See related article: Fidelity’s crypto arm wants to add Ethereum trading, plans hiring spree
Fast facts
- The WSJ cited “people familiar with the matter” and a statement from one of Fidelity’s crypto clients, Galaxy Holdings Ltd.’s CEO Mike Novogratz, who hinted about Fidelity’s latest crypto plans.
- “A bird told me that Fidelity, a little bird in my ear, is going to shift their retail customers into crypto soon enough,” Novogratz was quoted as saying during a speech at the SALT Conference.
- The move wouldn’t be Fidelity’s first venture into the crypto space — the financial services company announced plans to allow corporate clients to add Bitcoin to 401(k) plans earlier this year, a plan that drew criticism from the U.S. Labor Department and U.S. senators such as Elizabeth Warren, a frequent cryptocurrency critic.
- Fidelity and other financial services companies such as BlackRock, which offered institutional investors access to Bitcoin through a partnership with Coinbase starting this year, continue to signal institutional interest in crypto despite market slumps and increased regulatory scrutiny.
- Fidelity had some 40 million individual investors and 2.8 million daily average trades as per data from June, according to the company.
See related article: Fidelity allows retirement investments in Bitcoin