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Fidelity Gains Permission to Become Canada's 1st Institutional Custodian of Bitcoin BTC

Fidelity Gains Permission to Become Canada's 1st Institutional Custodian of Bitcoin BTC

Fidelity has been approved by Canadian regulators to launch a Bitcoin storage and trading platform. The firm became the first Bitcoin custodian in the country.

Fidelity will launch its service as a Bitcoin trading and storage platform served by institutional investors, according to The Globe and Mail. The endorsement paves the way for more Canadian institutions to invest in Bitcoin, including pension funds, portfolio managers, mutual funds, and ETFs.

Regulators have authorized Fidelity Canada to become the country's first custodian of Bitcoin. The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has approved Fidelity to launch a new Bitcoin trading and storage platform that serves institutions such as pension funds, portfolio managers, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) seeking direct access to BTC.

“The demand for investing in digital assets is growing considerably and institutional investors have been looking for a regulated dealer platform to access this asset class,” Scott Mackenzie, president of Fidelity Clearing Canada, said, in the report.

Many Bitcoin funds operating in Canada currently use custodians in the United States. By offering an option to the local market, Fidelity's move could ease this experience by opening the way for more institutional investors to buy BTC directly.

“Fidelity Clearing Canada provides services to more than 100 investment companies in Canada,” in the report. “Together, with Fidelity Investments Canada ULC, they represent more than $222-billion in assets under administration and management as of June 30.”

The launch of the new platform will be the first step into Bitcoin for Fidelity Canada. However, in 2018, Fidelity Investments Inc. launched a similar product in the US, Fidelity Digital Assets, which has since provided institutional investors with Bitcoin custody and transaction services.

© 2021, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter


About the Author

Eva Fox

Eva Fox

Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.

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