Fidelity Investments has opened bitcoin trading to the public amid the ongoing banking crisis

The financial giant will now allow customers Bitcoin to act, although they cannot withdraw it into self-custody.

Fidelity Investments clients can now buy bitcoin through the broker. The Fidelity Crypto platform, which first opened to a waitlist in November 2022, opened to the public yesterday.

Customers can buy and sell bitcoin, although they cannot transfer it to a self-custodial wallet where the user controls their private keys. At the start of the waiting list there was mention that capability will come later, but beyond that, no details or roadmap have been provided.

When trading, clients are not charged a “fee” but rather a 1% spread, which Fidelity has defined as “the difference between the price at which you buy or sell crypto in your Fidelity crypto account and the price at Fidelity Digital Assets will fulfill your order.” This spread will be reflected in the client’s execution price.

Trading is only available to US citizens over the age of 18 in eligible states.

Fidelity’s foray into the cryptocurrency It was not without criticism, as a group of senators wrote in a letter to the financial company:

“Fidelity Investments has decided to expand beyond traditional financing and delve into the highly volatile and increasingly risky digital asset market.”

But that didn’t seem to stop Fidelity.

While the launch of the service to the public can be welcomed, particular attention should be paid to self-custody, especially in moments like the current banking crisis. Reliance on extraordinarily large institutions, much like Fidelity, led to last week’s fiasco.

While Fidelity is often seen as a highly trusted institution, it should still be noted that trusted third parties are security holes and the only true way to sovereignly use Bitcoin is to own your private keys.