Asset Management Giant Fidelity Files For Bitcoin ETF

Long Beach (CoinChapter): A new filing with the U.S. SEC reveals that asset management giant Fidelity is looking to create a Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund).

Fidelity Service Company Inc. will serve as administrator to the Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF. FD Funds Management LLC is the sponsor of the fund and Fidelity Digital Assets will serve as the custodian.

According to the filing, the ETF will employ Fidelity’s in-house bitcoin price index. “The Trust’s investment objective is to seek to track the performance of bitcoin, as measured by the performance of the Fidelity Bitcoin Index PR (the “Index”), adjusted for the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities.”

The lingering question remains whether the SEC will approve a Bitcoin ETF, as numerous companies have filed for one. Both SkyBridge Capital and Goldman Sachs recently filed for one. Additionally, the likes of Gemini and VanEck have been trying for years to get a Bitcoin ETF approved.

Fidelity says investors can access the fund through a traditional brokerage account. They can do so without the “potential barriers to entry or risks involved with holding or transferring bitcoin directly.” The company stressed the need for something like this in a statement to The Block.

“The digital assets ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years,” a spokesperson said to The Block. “Creating an even more robust marketplace for investors and accelerating demand among institutions. An increasingly wide range of investors seeking access to bitcoin has underscored the need for a more diversified set of products offering exposure to digital assets.”

Meanwhile, in Canada, regulators have already approved two Bitcoin ETFs. The Purpose Bitcoin ETF launched in mid-February saw $100 million in volume within its first few hours of trading.

This Is Not The First Leap Into Crypto For Fidelity

This isn’t Fidelity’s first leap into the crypto industry. Last year they launched the Wise Origin Bitcoin Index Fund I, the company’s first Bitcoin-only investment product. The company also began mining Bitcoin and Ethereum back in 2014.