Fidelity Opens Bitcoin Trading During Banking Crisis

March 16, 2023 9:40 pm Comments

It looks like acceptance for Bitcoin and crypto general is becoming more widespread as a result of the recent banking crisis that took many people by surprise.

Just recently, Fidelity Investments just announced that they will allow customers to buy Bitcoin through the broker which is quite the milestone given that Fidelity is known for providing conservative financial instruments like 401(k) accounts.

The fact that Fidelity is doing this may eventually entice many other similar financial firms to do the same and indicates a shift in perception regarding the “risk” of crypto.

With that being said, this will only be available in certain states within the US and it doesn’t allow customers to transfer the digital assets to a private wallet.

The move has faced a lot of criticism from law makers and regulators as a move that makes the insitutions unstable, but it seems that Fidelity will continue to provide the service.

BitcoinMagazine reports:

Fidelity’s foray into cryptocurrency has not been without criticism, with a group of senators, stating in a letter to the financial firm:

“Fidelity Investments has opted to expand beyond traditional finance and delve into the highly unstable and increasingly risky digital asset market.”

But that seemingly hasn’t stopped Fidelity.

While their introduction of the service to the public may be welcomed, it is specifically during moments like the current banking crisis that extra emphasis should be placed upon self-custody.

Trust in institutions that are exceptionally large, similar to Fidelity, is what has led to the fiasco seen over the last week.

So, while Fidelity is often regarded as a highly-trusted institution, it should still be noted that trusted third-parties are security holes, and that the only true way to sovereignly use bitcoin is through the holding of one’s own private keys.

With this move from Fidelity, Bitcoin is now easily accessible to more than 37 million of its retail users without any trading fees on the platform.

The launch of these new services happened to be very timely as it coincided with the collapse of some of the largest crypto banks in the nation such as SVB and Signature Bank.

Now that there is increasing concern that more and more banks may face the same issues, it looks like Fidelity is positioning itself to take advantage of the increased demand in crypto.

With Fidelity Crypto now launched, it seems Bitcoin and crypto is on the road to becoming accepted in all financial portfolios which was something that was forbidden in the past.

This is happening despite push back from US senators who accused the industry of being volatile and a scam.

Cryptonomist.ch reports:

Fidelity, which has 37.1 million retail accounts in total, has moved ahead of most of its peers in the United States when it comes to offering cryptocurrencies to retail customers. Full launch took place in recent weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter.

As anticipated above, Fidelity Crypto’s move comes at a very delicate time for the blockchain industry and the market in general, given the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the closure of Silvergate and Signature Bank.

On 13 March, Barney Frank, a former board member of Signature Bank, said regulators wanted to “send a very strong anti-crypto message.”

Frank added that the crypto-friendly bank became the “poster boy” since there was “no insolvency based on fundamentals.”

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