On Apr. 2, Fidelity Investments launched a new individual retirement account (IRA) that lets American adults invest in cryptocurrencies in a tax-friendly manner.
All U.S. adults can add Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin to their retirement portfolios under the product if Fidelity is offering these services in the state they reside in. The firm is offering tax-free (Roth) and tax-deferred (traditional and rollover) IRA accounts to its customers.
While there are no fees to open or maintain an IRA or crypto custody with Fidelity, it will charge a spread of 1% on the execution price of crypto buy and sell transactions.
Fidelity Digital Assets, a a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, is claiming to offer institutional-level crypto custody services to the customers. It holds the majority of its crypto assets in “highly secure” cold storage, the firm claims on the website.
Cold storage is the practice of storing a crypto wallet or keys offline, i.e., away from the internet, to protect the assets from hacks, exploits, or other vulnerabilities typically associated with online storage.
Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers, already offers crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Launched in 2024, its spot Bitcoin ETF is worth $16.65 billion, and its spot Ethereum ETF is worth $762.7 million as of Apr. 1, as per SoSoValue. On March 11, it requested the regulator to permit the latter to stake its Ether holdings.
The asset manager also applied to list a spot Solana ETF on March 25. As reported on March 26, the firm is testing a stablecoin too, though it does not have any plans for launch.
