Fidelity Unlocks Bitcoin and Ether Trading for Individual Customers
CriptoFácil – Amidst the crisis that hits US banks that serve cryptocurrency companies, Fidelity Investments has discreetly expanded access to (BTC) and Ether () trading for all its retail traders.
Since the beginning of this month, the Fidelity Crypto platform, which was previously only available to institutions and some customers on a waiting list, can be accessed by individual investors to buy and sell the two largest cryptocurrencies in the market and use Fidelity’s custody service Digital Assets. Today, Fidelity has around 37 million retail accounts.
For now, customers cannot transfer cryptocurrencies to or from their Fidelity accounts. In other words, Fidelity is responsible for the custody of customers’ digital assets, which do not have access to private keys. The company said on its Twitter account that it is exploring the crypto transfer function and may implement it in the future:
“In this initial version of Fidelity Crypto, you will not be able to send or receive cryptocurrencies. But we are exploring cryptocurrency transfers in the future,” the company tweeted.
Fidelity releases purchase and sale of BTC and ETH for retail
According to a Forbes report published this Thursday (16), trading in BTC and ETH is only open to US citizens over 18 who reside in one of the 36 states where Fidelity Digital Assets offers services. .
The company said it will not charge commissions for the service for individual customers, but there is a 1% fee on each transaction. The company calls the rate the “spread” and defines it as “the difference between the execution price and the price at which Fidelity Digital Assets fills the order”.
In addition to cryptocurrency trading for institutional investors and now retail clients, Fidelity also provides the Fidelity Index Fund. It is a fund that tracks the performance of Ether in US Dollars.
Fidelity’s news comes at a delicate time for the US crypto market. Companies in the sector face strong regulatory pressure from local authorities. At the same time, three banks serving crypto companies have closed in the last week, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate and Signature Bank.
By CriptoFacil