According to a Bloomberg report, the Boston-based multinational financial services company Fidelity is planning to release a Bitcoin offering. This is especially notable seeing as Fidelity is financial services behemoth, which administers over $7.2 trillion.



Fidelity’s Bitcoin custody solution will reportedly be released in March



Specifically, the Bloomberg report – which broke on January 29th – cites ”unnamed sources familiar with the matter.” It also says that Fidelity will bring a Bitcoin custody offering online in March of this year.



Moreover, the story notes that this move comes as part of a long-term push Fidelity started in October of last year, through the launch of the separate firm ”Fidelity Digital Asset Services.”



This company is reportedly intended to handle trade execution services for digital assets, as well as manage custody. It will primarily cater to the needs of institutional investors – including ”hedge funds, family offices and market intermediaries.”



Nevertheless, Fidelity Digital Asset Services’ different services will not be available for institutional investors. This signals a marked push for Fidelity into the sphere of institutional cryptocurrency investors.



Moreover, Bloomberg reports that Fidelity has already released a statement detailing the ambitions of the service, and how it will be launched.



”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,” Fidelity supposedly commented.



Fidelity has a history of supporting digital currencies



Fidelity’s interest in the cryptocurrency field should not come as too much of a surprise, however. Fidelity’s CEO, Abigail Johnson, is a well-known advocate for digital currencies – and she even introducing Bitcoin and Ethereum mining at the firm back in 2017.



Furthermore, Johnson commented on her cryptocurrency conviction at a New York conference, stating that ”I’m a believer. I’m one of the few standing before you today from a large financial services company that has not given up on digital currencies.”



It remains to be seen exactly how this custody service will look like when – and if – it actually launches, but the promise of such a service is encouraging. This comes as cryptocurrency platform Coinbase has already begun introducing its own custody solutions.



Custody services are essential third-party services in traditional stocks and bonds markets, in order to simplify the holding of various assets.



Today, many major financial firms such as JPMorgan, BNY Mellon and Northern Trust offer custody services for assets including gold, diamonds, securities, and fiat currencies.

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