Fidelity launches trade execution and custody for cryptocurrencies
As I understand it Fidelity have bought a chunk of Bitcoin and are currently trying to buy more. They actually do not care about price, they just need the coins so they can setup these new financial things they will let their bigger customers buy into, as part of the portfolio. The cold storage thing is no biggie, they will be holding their new and shiny bitcoins in many, many wallets. So a customer of theirs will be able to effectively buy one of these wallets rather than a stake in a nebulous fund.<p>I have heard no mention of them wanting to buy the &#x27;fake crptocurrencies&#x27;, i.e. anything except &#x27;bitcoin&#x27;, which I think has appeal to their customers in a way that &#x27;ethereum&#x27; or &#x27;crypto-kitties&#x27; does not.<p>But is this really progress? If a cafe has customers wanting some new fad food, e.g. &#x27;kale and pulled pork burgers&#x27; and if they have staff that have bought into the &#x27;kale and pulled pork&#x27; hype then they might as well add it to the menu.<p>This is becoming a trope:<p>&quot;No one said when some of these early-stage Internet companies in 2000 were going out of business, &#x27;Gee, the Internet is toast,&#x27;&quot; Jessop said. &quot;We don&#x27;t focus too much on the price. It&#x27;s a foundational technology — people are trying to get exposure to the trend and expect volatility in the assets themselves.&quot;<p>Could be said about fidget spinners - they have only got started!<p>In debating this point with a bitcoin &#x27;bore&#x27; I was told that there was no innovation in the internet after the dot-com crash until &#x27;ajax came along&#x27; and no &#x27;new innovation&#x27; came along after that until the iphone came along. I didn&#x27;t see it that way, but was it?