Fidelity Investments has quietly launched bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) trading to all existing retail customers via its Fidelity Crypto platform.
The platform was previously available only to institutions and some waitlisted customers, but now individual investors can buy and sell BTC and ETH using custodial and trading services provided by Fidelity Digital Assets.
While a string of bankruptcies and market failures in 2022 among cryptocurrency exchanges and investment schemes illustrated the drawbacks of entrusting digital asset custody to intermediaries, the size and reputation of Fidelity could mitigate concerns around underlying custody risk.
The service will be expanded over the coming year, with plans to allow customers to transfer digital assets to or from their Fidelity accounts by November 2023. As of 17 March 2023, trading is open only to U.S. citizens over the age of 18 who reside in one of the 36 states where Fidelity Digital Assets offers its services.
Following Robinhood and Binance US, Fidelity’s trading service will be a commission-free offering, but with a 1% spread added to each transaction that is defined as “the difference between your execution price and the price at which Fidelity Digital Assets fills your order.”
At a time of increasing regulatory pressure in the global blockchain ecosystem, the move by Fidelity aims to reinforce the credibility of crypto and provide an additional opportunity for investment participation by retail customers.