By
Temitope Olatunji
April 18th, 2024
Fidelity Digital Assets expanded its crypto service to the public amid the collapse of Silvergate and Signature Bank.
After Fidelity Digital Assets announced an early waitlist for crypto trading in November 2022, Fidelity Crypto is now accessible to the public. The asset manager quietly opened access to the new offering, allowing users to trade Bitcoin and Ether. With millions of users globally, commission-free trading has begun via Fidelity Crypto, according to the digital assets management company. People familiar with the matter revealed that the complete launch of the crypto trading services rolled out over the past few weeks.
News about Fidelity Digital Assets offering a crypto trading app came to light last year, adding that the company was waiving any commission fees. The retail investor app was designed to provide users with detailed market information. Hands-on information will help new and existing traders navigate the highly volatile crypto space.
Fidelity Digital Assets Quietly Opens Crypto Offering to Public
As Fidelity Crypto becomes accessible to the masses, the company said new and existing members could enjoy the commission-free service. Part of the requirements for first-time users is creating a Fidelity Brokerage account. Notably, Fidelity Crypto for digital assets is currently unavailable in all states. While trading attacks zero commission, the company will charge a spread of no more than 1%. For now, the only supported crypto assets are BTC and ETH.
Fidelity Digital Assets expanded its crypto service to the public while two of the cryptos’ biggest banking partners, Silvergate and Signature Bank, collapsed. Traders began to panic when the banks constantly lost large percentages of their shares. At the time, many crypto companies started moving their funds to asset managers, including Fidelity. Reports showed that many crypto firms reached out to Fidelity Investment in the quest to find new banking partners. A top player in the crypto industry revealed that he referred about 25 companies to Fidelity in about three days. He noted:
“Fidelity isn’t a traditional bank, but they’re certainly safer than the tier-two-and-beyond banks.”
According to the co-founder & CEO of FLUUS, Tey El-Rjula, the failure of these banks will impact the crypto industry. However, he believes the impact will only be temporary without a major effect. In his opinion, the crypto industry is “incredibly resilient” and is capable of adapting to new circumstances. Speaking further, El-Rjula said many financial institutions have started working on new solutions to offer the crypto industry. He referred to decentralized exchanges and p2p platforms as a natural development in the market.
“These platforms allow users to trade crypto directly with each other without the need for a centralized intermediary like a bank,” said he.