More and more traditional financial services are starting to realize the dozens of potential benefits of integrating digital currencies to their existing operations. Fidelity Investments has joined the list this week.
Traditional Investing Meets Digital Currencies
Fidelity Investments, a Boston based firm that manages client’s portfolios and provides investment advice, has announced that they have partnered with Bitcoin exchange and wallet provider service Coinbase to allow customers to view their digital assets on their Fidelity account. To incorporate holdings into their portfolios, users must keep their funds on Coinbase’s online hosted wallet.
While this could be a concern for some that are worried more about privacy as they would have to forgo control of their private keys, more casual users who are buying into crypto to give their account a little more diversity should be thrilled with the new service. Since the integration is through Coinbase, only Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin will be available to customers as those are the only currencies that Coinbase currently supports.
One thing to note is that while it was announced for later this year, there has yet to be support for Bitcoin Cash on Coinbase’s platform. There is no word on whether or not Fidelity will add support if Coinbase follows through on the announcement.
The additional options for users have been tested so far with employees given access to the new feature over the past few weeks. Beginning last Wednesday, all other users now have the ability to authorize Coinbase to give Fidelity the data concerning their digital assets.
In the statement released by Fidelity, the firm hopes to learn more about Bitcoin and digital currencies in general. The partnership has been expected since May of this year when Fidelity announced its plans to partner with Coinbase.
Fidelity Investments Fulfills Promise to Add Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum |… https://t.co/3EjCeOrsuc pic.twitter.com/FnQGZapqez
— Blockalerts (@blockalertz) August 11, 2017
Everything Towards Mainstream Adoption
Fidelity is one of the few mainstream financial companies that are starting to cozy up to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. Due to its highly unregulated nature, most organizations don’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. However, recent price spikes have caught the attention of the rest of the financial world forcing people to pay attention to this exciting new form of payment. Companies like Fidelity that are beginning to incorporate Bitcoin into their business offerings are the best way to increase adoption all over the world.
Do you think that this will spark other firms to add digital currencies to their platforms? Or is this just a one-time thing? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Fidelity, DepositPhotos, Coinbase