Customers will now be able to trade bitcoin, but they cannot withdraw it into their own custody.
Fidelity Investments is now able to purchase bitcoin through the broker. The Fidelity Crypto platform, first made accessible to a waitlist in November 2022, is now open to the general public as of yesterday.
Consumers may purchase and sell bitcoin but cannot move it to a wallet where the user holds the private keys. Upon the debut of the waitlist, this feature was mentioned as a future addition, but no more information or plan has been offered.
Customers will not pay a “fee” but rather a 1% spread, which Fidelity describes as “the difference between the rate at which you purchase or sell cryptocurrency in your Fidelity Crypto account and the price at which Fidelity Digital Assets fills your transaction.” This spread will be reflected in the execution price for the customer.
Trade will be restricted to U.S. citizens over 18 residing in designated states. Self-custody should be emphasized more at times, such as during the present financial crisis, even though their introduction of the service to the public is likely to be positive. The situation of the last week was triggered by a lack of faith in very big organizations, such as Fidelity.
Although Fidelity is often viewed as a highly-trusted organization, it should be underlined that responsible third parties are security vulnerabilities and that the only way to utilize bitcoin sovereignly is by possessing one’s private keys.
Wallets