Fidelity Investments has announced the launch of a new company dedicated to providing cryptocurrency services including custody and trade execution. The services will be available to institutional investors such as hedge funds, family offices, and market intermediaries.

New Crypto Company Formed

Leading financial services corporation Fidelity Investments announced on Monday the launch of a new company called Fidelity Digital Asset Services LLC. The firm explained:

The company will offer enterprise-quality custody and trade execution services for digital assets, commonly referred to as cryptocurrencies, to sophisticated institutional investors such as hedge funds, family offices and market intermediaries.

The services offered will be in three areas: institutional-grade custody, trade execution, and dedicated client service.

The custody service will provide "a secure, compliant, and institutional-grade omnibus storage solution for bitcoin, ether and other digital assets," Fidelity detailed, adding that its solution consists of vaulted cold storage and an access control system the firm described as "multi-level physical and cyber."

The trade execution service will leverage the firm's internal crossing engine and smart order router which "will allow for execution at multiple market venues." Lastly, its clients "will have access to a dedicated team of client service specialists, from onboarding throughout the entire relationship with the company," the firm elaborated.

Tom Jessop, head of Fidelity Digital Asset Services, told CNBC that the firm already works with 13,000 institutional clients. He noted:

These institutions require a sophisticated level of service and security, equal to the experience they're used to when trading stocks or bonds.