Fidelity To Soon Launch Bitcoin Trading
New reports, namely one from Bloomberg posted on Monday, divulge that the option to conduct Bitcoin (BTC) purchases and sales will soon be available on Fidelity Investments’ cryptocurrency division, the fittingly named Digital Asset Services. Those familiar with the matter told the outlet that “within a few weeks,” the institutional clientele will have access to the aforementioned solution.
Interestingly, it isn’t clear if Fidelity will be offering spot market trading, a darkpool/over-the-counter (OTC) solution, or a liquidity aggregator to its clients. Yet, as explained by a company spokesperson Arlene Roberts, the service, whatever form it will take, will be “focused on Bitcoin.” She further adds:
“We currently have a select set of clients we’re supporting on our platform… We will continue to roll out our services over the coming weeks and months based on our clients’ needs, jurisdictions, and other factors.”
This news comes just days after Fidelity unveiled an institutional survey they commissioned, which revealed that institutions are widely amicable towards the digital asset class.
As reported by Ethereum World News previously, out of the “more than 400 U.S. institutional investors” polled, 47% agreed that cryptocurrencies should have a place in their portfolios. Out of that pro-crypto group, which included pensions, family offices, crypto funds, and endowments, 72% noted that they would be most comfortable with holding digital asset funds, like the array of proposed Bitcoin ETFs and Grayscale’s GBTC. On the matter of why a cryptocurrency allocation is logical, the institutions among the 47% noted that they see cryptocurrencies as innovative technology and an asset class barely correlated with traditional markets (asymmetrical risk) and has “appealing characteristics”.
Potential Effect On The Crypto Market
While digital assets have barely budged off this news, with Bitcoin posting a mere 0.52% gain as of the time of writing this, some are sure that this news is decidedly bullish for the cryptocurrency market. In a recent CoinTelegraph episode, Mati Greenspan, eToro’s in-house crypto expert, noted that investors should keep their eyes on this development. Greenspan, eToro’s senior markets analyst, explains that although Fidelity likely isn’t the first services provider to offer cryptocurrency-related products, it is “very likely to be the biggest.”
On the matter of the trade execution service, the analyst explains that FDAS will be giving the broader market a catalyst to move “liquidity significantly forward,” thus making BTC more robust and more financialized. Quantifying the potential effect the new product could have, Greenspan suggests that even if Fidelity’s clientele allocates 1% of their assets into cryptocurrency, BTC could
This isn’t the only bullish catalyst that Greenspan drew attention to, however. In the aforementioned CoinTelegraph segment, the eToro analyst looks to the upcoming New York Blockchain Week, which is centered around CoinDesk’s Consensus conference; and technical factors to convince him that BTC is looking more bullish than not.
Title Photo by Fezbot2000 on Unsplash
