Fidelity, Square and Coinbase Form a Bitcoin Trade Group
Key Takeaways
- The formation of a crypto lobbying group will aim to spread crypto awareness
- Fidelity, Square, Coinbase, and more to focus on shaping crypto regulation
Can Big Players Change the Perception of Bitcoin?
Fidelity Investment, Square Inc., Coinbase Global, and a few other financial companies have joined efforts to create a trade group that aims to influence the way bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are perceived. The trade group, called the Crypto Council for Innovation, will lobby lawmakers, work on research projects and promote the social and economic benefits of digital assets and the underlying technologies. The group will focus its activities on informing and encouraging policymakers and the broad public about the positive aspects of digital assets and their applications.
The concept of a crypto lobbying group comes amid a surge of the cryptocurrency market which has onboarded mainstream investors, financial institutions, corporations, and brokers. The market for digital assets has just recently passed a valuation of $2tn, while the largest crypto asset, bitcoin, has soared near $65,000 with its own market capitalization of $1.2tn.
Supporters of the crypto movement have argued that digital assets powered by blockchain technology have the potential to enhance mainstream finance and add new jobs to the market. However, the market’s future is significantly dependent on regulatory approval by policymakers and regulators around the world.
According to many, the crypto space is now at a mainstream inflection point where it could have its own breakthrough or reverse course, based on the regulator’s ruling and policy decisions.
Fidelity to Launch an Exchange Traded Fund
Fidelity, an investment giant with over $10tn in assets under management and one of the firms backing the bitcoin trade group, has been involved in cryptocurrencies since 2018 when it started a custody business that stores and trades bitcoin for institutional investors such as hedge funds. Last month, Fidelity Investments became one of the latest investment firms to file for approval to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of bitcoin only on regulated exchanges.
Square Allocated more than $200m to BTC
Square, a payment company led by Jack Dorsey, is a long-time supporter of bitcoin and has allocated over $200mn from its cash to bitcoin. And Coinbase just became the first major crypto company to be listed on the public markets. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, is now the largest publicly traded US exchange, valued at around $100bn.