Fidelity Digital Assets is planning on expanding in staff by 70% following a surge in institutional interest in the crypto space.
The firm is set to hire an additional 100 employees in technology and operations. The roles are set to be based in Dublin, Boston and Salt Lake City. The aim of the new hires will be to help the business develop new products and expand into cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin according to president of Fidelity Digital Assets, Tom Jessop.
Talking about the exponential growth in hires, Jessop stated that the growth in the market which was accelerated by the Covid-19 Pandemic, “was a real breakthrough year for the space” he said.
Currently, Fidelity Digital Assets only offers bitcoin services, including custody and trading services. However, Jessop plans to expand the company’s product offering. “We’ve seen more interest in Ether, so we want to be ahead of that demand,” Jessop said.
Fidelity will also look at increasing market trading hours. Since cryptocurrencies do not stop trading over the weekend like the stock market. “We want to be at a place where it’s full-time for most of the week,” Jessop stated.
Institutional interest grows
The surge in institutional interest has increased dramatically in 2021. Fidelity Digital will be looking to capitalize on the market growth. Jessop believes that institutional interest in bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies is increasing. “Bitcoin has been the entry for a lot of institutions,” Jessop said. “It’s now really opening up a window on what else is going on in the space.”
Germany recently passed a ruling allowing crypto investments within institutional funds. Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) approved the move following previously having reservations about the crypto sector.
JPMorgan’s analysts have also previously stated that the ability to stake crypto could gain traction as an alternative for institutions to gain extra revenue. The analysts predict that staking could reach up to $40 billion by 2025. Currently, staking generates roughly $9 billion.