Fidelity and Goldman Sachs are going deeper into the crypto world

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(Kitco News) – Fidelity is stepping up efforts to entice retail investors to trade cryptocurrencies on its platform by offering commission-free trading of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) alongside traditional stock investments on its mobile app.

The new crypto offering will be operated by Fidelity Digital Assets, the company’s cryptocurrency subsidiary. To go along with the commission-free crypto trading announcement, the financial services firm opened a waiting list for Fidelity Crypto so users can get on the early access list.

Get on the early access list to trade bitcoin and ethereum and discover educational resources that make crypto much less cryptic. pic.twitter.com/sZjQo7qVNg

— Fidelity Investments (@Fidelity) 3 November 2022

At the time of writing, no specific launch date has been given for the new offer.

The choice to launch the service comes as interest in digital assets is on the rise, and the proportion of the population that owns crypto is steadily increasing.

“Where our clients invest is more important than ever,” Fidelity said in a statement shared with CNBC. “A meaningful portion of Fidelity clients are already interested in and own crypto. We provide them with tools to support their choices so they can benefit from Fidelity’s education, research and technology.”

According to the brokerage, while only Bitcoin and Ether will be available at launch, additional cryptocurrencies are being evaluated and may be added in the future.

Instead of commission fees, Fidelity indicated that a 1% spread would be incorporated into each trade. The spread is the difference between the bid and ask prices quoted for an asset.

The new product comes just weeks after Fidelity Institutional President Michael Durbin stated that he sees more room for crypto in consumer portfolios. In October, the firm launched Ether custody and trading services for its high-net-worth clients, and in April, the bank announced plans to allow retirement savers to directly invest in Bitcoin through their 401(k) accounts.

Goldman Sachs launches a crypto data service

In other crypto-related news from major financial services providers, Goldman Sachs has revealed that it is partnering with index provider MSCI and crypto data firm Coin Metrics to develop a crypto rating service.

The new service has been called Datonomy, which is a play on taxonomy – the scientific term for naming and classifying the natural world.

Institutional investors will be the main target of the investment bank’s new crypto rating service, as the firm looks to help investors understand crypto.

“This new classification system for digital assets aims to give market participants a consistent view of the market, allowing them to track trends across different industries, such as Smart Contract Platforms and Decentralized Finance, and screen assets with a range of different filters based on their targets, and understand the aggregate characteristics of these assets at the portfolio level,” the brokerage said in its press release.

According to Anne Marie Darling, head of marquee client strategy and distribution at Goldman Sachs, the firm has made the creation of reliable data services for the emerging digital resource community one of its strategic focuses going forward.

Datonomy is designed to “provide a consistent, standardized way to help market participants view and analyze the digital asset ecosystem,” according to Goldman Sachs, and will “help create an increased level of transparency about how the market moves and can be licensed for a variety of use cases, such as review and assessment of portfolio performance and reporting.”