Fidelity adds 100 new hires to crypto subsidiary
Asset managers expand their digital asset teams despite the ‘Crypto Winter’
Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers, is boosting its digital assets division by 25%, despite the marked downturn suffered by the once-burgeoning sector in 2022.
The company told Bloomberg that it hopes to add another 100 people to the now 400-strong team at Fidelity Digital Asset Services.
That would mean the division will have grown fivefold since the start of the year, when it had just over 100 employees, suggesting Fidelity’s determination to establish itself as one of the foremost digital asset managers.
Its current digital asset-related job listings include roles for finance, accounting, blockchain technology, corporate services and product development. The vast majority of roles will be based in the United States, although the organisation, which has $4.5trn in assets under management, will also hire for its offices in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Fidelity recently launched a service allowing 401(k) retirement saving account holders in the United States to invest directly into bitcoin.
The push also comes as part of a broader expansion. In April, Fidelity Investments announced its intention to create more than 12,000 new jobs.
BlackRock expands digital asset services
Fidelity is by no means alone identifying the digital asset sector as an area of future growth.
In the spring, BlackRock, the global investment management company based in New York City, started to manage the cash reserves of the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) and entered into a strategic partnership with Circle, one of the stablecoin’s primary issuers. More recently, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, launched a blockchain exchange-traded fund in Europe.
Although the world’s asset managers may be hiring in preparation for an eventual recovery in the digital asset space, the sector itself has witnessed a sizable exodus in recent months.
With $2trn wiped off the capitalisation of the total cryptocurrency market, leading firms such as Coinbase, Gemini and BlockFi cut their workforces by double-digit percentages.
The CFO of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, Brian Roberts, recently announced his intention to step down after only 10 months in the role. OpenSea, a prominent player in the nonfungible token industry, has experienced a decline in daily trading volume of more than 90% this year and slashed its workforce by 20%.
