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A Fidelity survey of 774 institutional investors found that more than one-third of firms worldwide have invested in digital assets or derivatives. While 36% of institutions own crypto globally, multinational financial services company Fidelity found that only 27% of the 441 U.S. institutions surveyed are exposed to crypto - although that's up from 22% last year. Close to half of European institutions are long on virtual assets.

Asset manager Fidelity has refiled with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) paperwork for its Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), weeks after BlackRock submitted paperwork for its iShares Bitcoin Trust, also a spot bitcoin ETF. Fidelity had originally applied to launch the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust in 2021, but that effort it was rejected by the SEC in 2022.

Fidelity spun off its data-aggregation business, Akoya, into its own company, giving financial institutions another tool to securely share customer data with third-party financial apps. Akoya collects data from banks on its network and provides a single entry point for third-party apps and data aggregators, such as Plaid and Yodlee. Akoya will be owned and operated by Fidelity, 11 major banks and The Clearing House. Some industry groups view the spin-off as a threat to competition because the new arrangement gives banks too much control of consumer data.

Fidelity Investments has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list a new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Wise Origin Bitocin Trust aims to track Bitcoin's daily performance using the Fidelity Bitcoin Index PR, an index that's derived from several price feeds. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1852317/000119312521092598/d133565ds1.htm

Fidelity Digital Assets will allow its institutional customers to pledge Bitcoin as collateral against cash loans in a partnership with blockchain startup BlockFi. The unit of Fidelity Investments will hold the digital asset and not make loans itself. The target is Bitcoin investors who want to turn their digital stash into cash without selling, and potential customers include hedge funds, crypto miners and over-the-counter trading desks.

Fidelity Investments updated its application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) to include the ability to stake. According to the amendment "the Sponsor may, from time to time, stake a portion of the Fund's assets through one or more trusted staking providers, which may include an affiliate of the Sponsor". Fidelity made its initial application in November. Other potential issuers include BlackRock, Ark Invest and 21Shares, and Grayscale.

"Fidelity Investments' new cryptocurrency arm is now up and running. The unit, Fidelity Digital Assets, began operations earlier this quarter but didn't make any noise about it. It has already started offering trade execution and crypto custody services to institutional investors such as hedge funds and private wealth management firms."

Fidelity Digital Assets has officially applied to the New York Department of Financial Services for a Trust license. If its application is successful, Fidelity Digital Assets (FDAS) would be cleared to add New York to the handful of states in which it currently operates its custody business for digital assets."

"Fidelity Digital Asset signed on as a member of ErisX's clearinghouse, taking advantage of its central limit order book to provide better liquidity for buy and sell orders."

A survey conducted by Fidelity Investments found that, already, around 22% of investors have some exposure to digital assets, while 40% say they are open to taking the plunge in the next five years. Of those that have exposure, most investments were made in the last three years.

A Bloomberg report on Monday, citing "a person familiar with the matter," said that Fidelity will roll out the service for trading bitcoin "within a few weeks" and will focus on institutional, not retail, customers.

Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto-focused branch of the major asset manager, is looking to boost its team with the addition of 10 new blockchain professionals.

Fidelity, Deloitte, Amazon, and 20 other firms are backing a new blockchain accelerator program to mentor budding entrepreneurs in the space.

Blockstream has announced two massive data centers for enterprise class co-location services. The service is currently geared towards enterprise and institutional customers, and Fidelity Center for Applied Technology was revealed as an early customer.

Fidelity Investments is setting up a new entity to serve European institutional digital asset investors.

Fidelity has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission informing them of a new fund dedicated to bitcoin. The Wise Origin Bitcoin Index Fund I, LP was incorporated this year and is being run from the Fidelity's Boston headquarters. The early documentation provides little in the way of details about the fund, and shows that zero investors have currently participated. But the minimum investment to join the pooled investment fund is $100,000, indicating this is likely only for institutional and accredited investors.

EDX Markets, a cryptocurrency platform backed by Charles Schwab, Fidelity and Citadel Securities, launched trading for bitcoin, ether, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. EDX is a non-custodial exchange, meaning it does not hold customer crypto and instead uses a third-party custodian. EDX plans to launch a clearinghouse later this year to help customers settle trades. EDX has also closed a second funding round, attracting new investors such as Miami International Holdings and affiliates of proprietary trading firms DV Trading, GTS, GSR, and Hudson River Trading.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has provided final approval to spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) following the listing of these instruments on three American exchanges on July 23, 2024. The approved issuers include BlackRock, Fidelity, 21Shares, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, and Invesco Galaxy, all of whom also offer Bitcoin ETFs that were greenlighted by the SEC at the beginning of 2024. All spot ETH ETFs, except Grayscale, kept the base fee between 0.15% and 0.25%, but Fidelity, 21Shares, Bitwise, Franklin, and VanEck will waive all fees until a set period or a determined amount in net assets is achieved. Grayscale is charging 2.50%.

Fidelity is ramping up its cryptocurrency custody business, hoping to profit from the scarcity of big, regulated institutions in the chaotic world of digital assets, according to Abigail Johnson, the investment group's chief executive.

Fidelity has been granted a trust licence to offer trading and custody of bitcoin by the NY State Department of Financial Services, as the asset management group continues to woo cautious institutional investors into digital assets."