FinTech Magazine - March 2023 | Page 111

one of the primary motivating factors . Froehlich believes that it would not be possible to test out this emerging area without the backing of key stakeholders within Fidelity , as well as a desire to meet customer demand .
“ I think we have a philosophy of pushing the boundaries and using new technologies ,” he tells us . “ There is a very entrepreneurial spirit that runs within Fidelity . Most employees have an opportunity to test certain assumptions and hypotheses , to potentially launch new solutions , new services or new lines of business .”
“ It doesn ' t have to come from the top ; there are a lot of people within the company that are given the flexibility of testing a new concept . That ' s also one of the reasons

2.57mn

Fidelity ’ s total number of customers that we managed to launch a standalone business dedicated to digital assets .”
Fidelity ’ s first digital assets product launch was not just a case of a new asset class , it was a case of a new technology that clients had to become accustomed to . Questions around custody pervaded at that time , as they do today , and there was uncertainty about the regulatory wrapper that would surround a launch of this nature .
This was in spite of the loud noise that reverberated around the crypto space . These were crucial concerns , such was the breakneck acceleration of digital assets . “ Because there was so much uncertainty about the technology and a few of the environmental impacts , as well as the
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