Fidelity Zero Fee Bitcoin Trading – Bitcoin Magazine
Financial services behemoth Fidelity Investments has opened access to a waiting list for its bitcoin trading offering, according to its website. Users can express interest in the product, offered by subsidiary Fidelity Digital Assets, by registering on the firm’s website. The product will waive commission fees, an attempt to compete with popular cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance which have recently launched fee-free trading. However, Fidelity will charge a 1% spread fee.
In the past year, Fidelity has taken longer steps in the cryptocurrency sector. The asset manager, one of the world’s largest with over $4.5 trillion in assets under management as of September 2022, offers institutional products through Fidelity Digital Assets, including a spot bitcoin ETF in Canada, but the firm’s new move will cater to the retail investor group.
Now investors get a glimpse of the future when Fidelity opens the waiting list for the offer. In addition to trading, the asset manager will also offer custody services for clients’ bitcoin holdings as it seeks to capitalize on the learning curve involved in self-custody.
Although US citizens may find it convenient to invest in bitcoin through Fidelity’s offering, the inability to withdraw money to a self-custodial wallet may push some investors away. As a digital native peer-to-peer currency system, Bitcoin’s true value proposition is only achievable through proper self-storage, enabling independence and freedom. Either way, Fidelity’s offering certainly has a market to target – and a growing one – as many in America become curious about and demand some exposure to BTC.
Historically, users have mostly leveraged cryptocurrency-specific exchanges for their bitcoin purchases. However, banks and other financial institutions have grown in awareness as they have seen millions if not billions of US dollars fly out of customers’ checking accounts and into the likes of Coinbase and Gemini. In an effort to capture some of this capital, some traditional financial firms have quickly pivoted to launch their own bitcoin investment products.
In addition to Fidelity, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has also recently dipped its toes into the Bitcoin market. BlackRock’s plans were first rumored in February 2022, but it wouldn’t be until August that the $10 trillion AUM firm would launch its bitcoin trading product. BlackRock also launched a spot bitcoin private trust in the same month.
