The crypto doubters are gonna hate this.
While cryptos continue to be well off their all-time highs, one of the largest and most respected brokerage firms in the U.S. just gave a major hint about underlying investor sentiment, specifically for ethereum (ETH).
In a recent interview, Fidelity Digital Assets President Tom Jessop said the company is considering supporting ethereum on its crypto platform as early as next year.
The goal of Fidelity’s Digital Assets division is to create “a blueprint for institutional-grade standards for the digital assets industry.” That involves creating new, regulatorily compliant systems and software for trading and holding cryptos, while also meeting the demands of 24/7 crypto traders and markets.
The division currently offers its biggest clients—family offices, hedge funds, pensions, institutional investors—the ability to trade bitcoin. But because of investor demand, it’s looking to expand into ethereum.
Why is this a big deal?
Fidelity is a household name. And its continued success developing these services will encourage other brokerages to follow suit… expanding access and creating competition.
Sure, you can buy cryptos on a number of different platforms. Coinbase is a popular name… And payment processor Square allows you to buy bitcoin using your smartphone. But institutional investors are demanding Fidelity Digital Assets offer trading options beyond just bitcoin… and it seems they’re willing to wait until they’re available on Fidelity’s trusted platform.
In the interview, Jessop explained, “We’ve done a lot of work on ethereum… We’re very led by our clients.”
Translation: Our clients want to invest in this space, and they want to use our services to do it.
The more cryptos Fidelity allows on its platform, and the more accessible the platform becomes to individual investors, the more exposure and credibility for the industry.
This is also a huge tailwind for ethereum…
In 2018, at its height, ethereum was trading over $1,000. At the beginning of 2019, it traded for around $140. In July, just six months later, it soared to around $300. Today, it’s back to around $140.
The crypto sector is volatile, and yet some of the most influential investors are demanding better services and expanded access. When the demands of the major players are met, crypto prices should stabilize considerably.
And many more individual investors will pour into the space.
One small, well-timed investment now could reap significant rewards.
Think about this… Fidelity has 30 million individual investors across its platform, and around $7.8 trillion (yes, trillion) in assets under management. If just 1% of those assets moves into cryptos—about $78 billion—that’s over four times (4x) the entire $15.5 billion market cap of ethereum right now.
Investor interest in an expanded Fidelity crypto platform—when ethereum is down over 80% from its highs—is a positive for the long term. Take advantage of these depressed prices and add some exposure to ethereum (ETH).
My best,
Daniel Creech
Research Analyst, Curzio Research
Originally published by The Token Tracker.
