Fidelity Digital Assets Plans to Double Headcount This Year: Report

Fidelity Digital Assets, the subsidiary of the financial services giant Fidelity Investments, plans to double its headcount this year to meet the growing demand for crypto trading from institutional investors, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Tuesday.

• The firm is planning to add 110 employees in tech roles, recruiting engineers and developers with blockchain experience, president Tom Jessop said, according to the report.
• The expanded headcount will be used to build infrastructure to offer trading of ether. Fidelity Digital Assets has hitherto only offered bitcoin (BTC) support.
• It aims to provide faster transactions and 24-hour trading support as well as compliance and tax-reporting tools.
• Growing its tech team and providing support ether (ETH) support would signal ongoing intent from Fidelity to expand into the crypto industry.
• The financial services firm, which has over $4.5 trillion assets under management, said last month it would allow investors to put bitcoin into their 401(k) retirement savings accounts later this year.
• Fidelity Digital Assets now has around 400 clients, including investment advisors, hedge funds and asset managers, head of product Terrence Dempsey said, according to WSJ’s report.
• The firm did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

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