Fidelity Clearing Canada received approval from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada on Wednesday to launch a Bitcoin (BTC) trading and custody platform.
As reported by The Globe and Mail, the platform is designed for use by institutional investors - such as pension funds, portfolio managers and mutual funds - and will be a first of its kind service. in Canada.
The company also plans to cater to retail investors through the regulatory deposit of a Bitcoin-funded mutual fund, which was introduced earlier this week.
As of September, Fidelity has more than $4.2 trillion in assets under management worldwide. Additionally, exchange-traded crypto products are rapidly gaining traction, with more than 40 such instruments awaiting approval in the US alone.
According to Cowen Telegraph, Scott McKenzie, president of Fidelity Clearing Canada, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail: The demand for investment in digital assets is growing exponentially, and it has been Institutional investors are looking for a regulated trader platform to access this asset class.
Canada's path to crypto adoption has not been as smooth as expected. Two years ago, Quadriga CX, which was the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time, collapsed after the sudden and mysterious death of its co-founder, Gerald Cotten, resulting in the loss of access to funds stored in cold wallets.
Cotten alone allegedly had access to the keys to the wallet that would unlock nearly $143 million in deposits belonging to more than 115,000 Quadriga customers. Ex cx. There is currently a documentary on Netflix in preparation about Cotton's life and death.
