A new report says that asset management giant Fidelity Investments will allow participants of its company-sponsored retirement accounts to put a portion of their savings into Bitcoin (BTC).
According to the New York Times, Fidelity plans to launch digital asset accounts, enabling holders of 401 (k) plans to invest in the flagship cryptocurrency if their employers let them.
According to the report, employees will be able to choose the amount they wish to allocate to Bitcoin but the employers will set the maximum amount that can be invested in the flagship crypto asset. The maximum allocated to Bitcoin cannot, however, exceed the ceiling of 20% set by Fidelity for now.
Fidelity will reportedly charge an account fee of between 0.75% and 0.90%. A trading fee will also be levied.
The report quotes Fidelity Investments’ head of workplace retirement offerings and platforms, Dave Gray, saying that the idea of the digital asset product is demand-driven.
“We started to hear a growing interest from plan sponsors, organically, as to how could Bitcoin or how could digital assets be offered in a retirement plan.”
Among the earliest adopters of Fidelity’s new product is the enterprise software firm and prominent Bitcoin holder MicroStrategy. As of April 5th, MicroStrategy owned 129,218 Bitcoin acquired at an average price of $30,700. Bitcoin is trading for $40,438 at time of writing.
Fidelity’s move to allow employees to allocate Bitcoin to their retirement savings plans comes a little over a month since the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor agency responsible for overseeing workplace retirement plans, urged providers of 401 (k) plans to “exercise extreme care before including direct investment options in cryptocurrency.”
Don't Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inboxFeatured Image: Shutterstock/Aleksander Polanowski/Andy Chipus