Fidelity, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager is planning to expand its custodian services beyond Bitcoin to other assets in the crypto market. The head of Fidelity Digital Assets, Tom Jessop said that the organization is analyzing the demand for the top five cryptocurrencies in the market and will integrate support for them later on.
The year 2018 has been a rough year for the cryptocurrency market. The market capitalization fluctuated from $800 million in January 2018 to the recent low of under $120 billion. While companies like Fidelity and ICE-backed Bakkt are supporting the cryptocurrency market, a legendary investor warns that the cryptocurrency markets may be entering into a “nuclear winter.” This comment was made by Jim Breyer, a billionaire investor who has held positions in Fortune’s 2018 Global Tech Forum in China.
Cryptocurrency Winter, not the first one
According to news reports, this crypto slump is not the only one and that these types of cycling pricing can be seen in emerging tech markets, which includes the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet. These two industries saw a major bubble form and burst in the late 90s and the early 2000s.
Currently, it is being said that the demand for crypto from institutional investors remains uncertain and that the only way it can be evaluated is through the existing custodians like Fidelity, Coinbase and BitGo. In the past 11 months, the market has witnessed a loss of 85% of its value. Like Fidelity, State Street, which is an American financial services bank holding company, says that it sees great potential in the cryptocurrencies market.
When regulations form a barrier
The regulatory barrier between financial institutions and digital asset custodianship is preventing organizations like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and State Street from shelving cryptocurrencies on behalf of their customers.
While gaining regulatory permission may take months for financial institutions, the companies witness enough demand in crypto to justify their entrance into the cryptocurrency sector.
