Fidelity Says Its Crypto Trading and Storage Platform Is in 'Final Testing'

Financial services provider Fidelity, which has some $7.2 trillion in client assets under management, said Thursday that its anticipated crypto trading and custody platform is in its "final testing" phase.

The company noted in a blog post late Thursday that it had on-boarded "a select set of eligible clients" already, while it worked on building Fidelity Digital Asset Services (FDAS). Fidelity first announced it would be launching a digital asset service last October.

At present, the company is working with auditors to polish its existing policies and procedures, as well as "to set new benchmarks for this aspect of cryptographic and blockchain-based finance."

Without giving a firm timeframe for a formal launch, the post noted that:

"Our initial clients are an important part of our final testing and process refinement periods, which will eventually enable us to provide these services to a broader set of eligible institutions."

While the update did not explicitly confirm a Bloomberg report that FDAS was planning to launch publicly in March, it is consistent with the company's earlier statements that the platform would go live in the first quarter of this year.

The storage component is already custodying assets on behalf of its initial customers.

Further supporting optimism about a near-term launch, FDAS put out a call for prospective clients in its post, writing that "over the next several months, we will thoughtfully engage with and stage prospective clients based on their needs, jurisdiction and other factors."

The company's trading and custody solutions are at roughly the same stage of development and are expected to launch around the same time. At launch, FDAS will support bitcoin and ethereum with "institutional-grade custody," alongside other services.

Fidelity image via Ken Wolter / Shutterstock