Fidelity Digital to Accept Bitcoin Collateral on Cash Loans for Institutions

Fidelity Digital Assets will allow its institutional customers to use bitcoin as collateral against cash loans, according to a press release Wednesday.

• The new service will target bitcoin investors who are keen to turn their holdings into cash without selling, as well as hedge funds, miners and over-the-counter trading desks, Tom Jessop, president of Fidelity Digital Assets, said.
• The Fidelity Investments subsidiary will hold the cryptocurrency and not make loans itself.
• Partnering on the initiative is crypto lender BlockFi, which will help manage risk by offering cash worth 60% of a loan backed by bitcoin, according to the firm's CEO, Zac Prince.
• “As the markets grow, we’d expect that this becomes a fairly important part of the ecosystem,” said Jessop.
• In order to receive the loan, a Fidelity customer will have to have an account with BlockFi.
• Last November, Fidelity Digital was granted a trust company charter from the New York Department of Financial Services, allowing the firm to custody bitcoin for institutional investors.

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