The custody service solution is a result of several months of work, the firm made an official announcement on Twitter on March 7:

“We are live with a select group of eligible clients and will continue rolling out slowly. Our solutions are focused on the needs of hedge funds, family offices, pensions, endowments, other institutional investors”

Custody services, which are a traditional stocks and bonds markets, are third party services that offer to hold an asset to reduce the likelihood of theft.

Custody services differ from banks in that they are not allowed to use the stored financial assets to their own ends.

Major firms like BNY Mellon, JPMorgan and Northern Trust offer custody for assets like money, securities, gold and diamonds etc.

Fidelity reportedly said in a statement-

“We are currently serving a select set of eligible clients as we continue to build our initial solutions. Over the next several months, we will thoughtfully engage with and prioritize prospective clients based on needs, jurisdiction and other factors.”

We are live with a select group of eligible clients and will continue rolling out slowly. Our solutions are focused on the needs of hedge funds, family offices, pensions, endowments, other institutional investors. More on our project: https://t.co/EkJ2pWJt2Y #DCBlockchain — Fidelity Digital Assets (@DigitalAssets) March 7, 2019

Fidelity Digital Assets is now live, offering the trading & securing of digital assets for a “select group of eligible” institutional investors.

The firm is starting out with a Bitcoin custody service focused on the needs of hedge funds, family offices, pensions, and endowments.

This solves a huge problem of trust for institutional investors who want to get involved with digital assets in a meaningful, transparent, and legal way.

Institutions cannot trade digital assets the way individuals can, and hence need solutions like this one created by Fidelity Digital.

Fidelity’s solution only applies to Bitcoin for now, although other cryptocurrencies may be considered for the platform in the future.

The firm, however, would not like to touch cryptocurrencies that may be deemed to be securities or have hard forks in the near future.

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