Fidelity expands its BTC and ETH trading to most retail accounts
Amidst a severe banking crisis, Fidelity Investments opened access to bitcoin and ether trading to all of its retail traders.
Amid several bank closures recently, Fidelity Investments stepped in to fill the void created by crypto-friendly banks to bridge the gap between digital and traditional funding. Previously, the Fidelity Crypto platform was only available to your institution, and a few waitlisted customers became available to all of the company’s customers earlier this month.
Forbes reports that individual investors can now buy and sell bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) and use the custody and trading services offered by Fidelity Digital Assets. Fidelity customers cannot yet transfer cryptocurrencies to or from their Fidelity accounts, and the company has yet to provide a timeline for when this might be possible.
Business Services are only available to US citizens 18 years of age or older who live in one of the 36 states where Fidelity Digital offers its services.
Fidelity Now Offers “Commission Free” Trading
The exchange announced the launch of Fidelity Crypto at the end of last year. The company said via Fidelity Crypto that it will offer commission-free bitcoin and ether trading, but will add a 1% fee to each transaction. Fidelity labels the spread rate, explaining it as “the difference between your strike price and the price at which Fidelity Digital Assets fills your order”. The spread will be visible on the client’s strike price.
Fidelity is urged to stop its crypto activity
Fidelity’s cryptographic activities have not been without criticism. In December, three US senators sent a letter to Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson requesting that the company withdraw its Bitcoin 401(k) offering. Senators cited the downfall of crypto exchange FTX as the reason the company revised its Bitcoin offering for retirement savers.
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