Fidelity

Basics

• From Forbes Blockchain 50 (Apr 16, 2019):

"The 73-year-old fund giant began mining bitcoin in 2015 as a way to learn about digital assets. This year, it launched a custody service for institutional investors who want to store bitcoin securely. It’s also building a trading platform that allows a large block of crypto to be purchased by executing orders across multiple exchanges. About 100 Fidelity employees are now devoted to digital assets. Having originally missed the ETF explosion, Fidelity will be at the forefront if crypto-assets go mainstream. Full profile"

• From the CoinDesk 50:

"With more than $8.3 trillion in total client assets, Fidelity is bringing institutional weight to crypto markets. In 2015, CEO Abigail Johnson signed off on a bitcoin mining experiment. Four years later, its Fidelity Digital Assets arm, led by President Tom Jessop, added a custodial business and crypto trading service for family offices, financial advisors and hedge funds. A frequent investor in the space, Fidelity has backed data high-flyer Coin Metrics and the Hong Kong-based BC Group exchange, and pursues distributed tech R&D with its in-house Fidelity Center for Applied Technology. Fidelity CEO Johnson has predicted crypto will “fundamentally change market structures and perhaps even the architecture of the internet itself.” Fidelity’s role is to see that through."

Main Links

• Has said it will use/build on Ethereum and Bitcoin
• Is using the mining services of Blockstream's mining pool (28-1-2021).

Team, Funding, Partners

Team

• Key leader: Tom Jessop, president, Fidelity Digital Assets (2020 & 2021)
• Nic Carter; was their first crypto analyst

Funding

• Circle; was one of the investors in the $440M fundraise for Circle (28-5-2021).