Major Steps Taken Toward Adoption

Although it was lost in the commotion of last week’s Merge, the push for mainstream adoption soldiers on.

Four significant additions to the cryptocurrency wave were added last week:

• Fidelity plans to offer bitcoin trading to retail customers.

• Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Citadel Securities announced the start of their crypto exchange, EDX Markets.

• The Nasdaq is planning to offer crypto custody services to institutions.

• Colorado became the first state to accept crypto for tax payments.

Let’s break down each of them

Fidelity Bitcoin Trading

Fidelity is one of the largest asset managers and brokerages in the world. With $4.2 trillion in assets and 34 million brokerage accounts, Fidelity is a true financial giant.

They also have a long track record of supporting crypto.

Fidelity’s crypto journey began way back in 2014 when they started mining bitcoin. In 2018, they launched bitcoin trading for institutional investors and hedge funds. In 2020, they released their bitcoin ETF. And most recently, in May 2022, they became the first retirement plan provider to add Bitcoin as a 401(k) plan investment option.

However, their next move might be their biggest yet…

Opening up bitcoin trading to 34 million accounts is massive for the industry. Besides the obvious positive of 34 million new potential buyers, this is another step towards making crypto more accessible to the public.

EDX Markets

In similar news, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Citadel Securities are releasing a new crypto exchange, EDX Markets.

EDX Markets aims to “offer investors safer, faster, and more efficient cryptocurrency trading through trusted intermediaries.”

Us crypto natives have unusually high risk tolerances. We’re alright with sending our money to a Coinbase or a Kraken, but most of the world is not. People understandably want proven safety when using their money, and brands like Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Citadel offer precisely that.

Fair or not, an exchange backed by known financial heavyweights will attract people who otherwise wouldn’t touch crypto.

Nasdaq Custody Services

The Nasdaq, an American stock exchange best known for its tech stocks, is also entering the institutional crypto fray.

Although the Nasdaq has dabbled in crypto before by being a surveillance service provider, this would be their first direct entry into the market. The custody services will be aimed at institutions, and according to the Nasdaq, will compete with “the likes of Coinbase, BitGo, and Gemini.”

Our opinion on this is exactly the same as our opinion on the Fidelity and EDX news: this is good for crypto. Having the second largest stock exchange in the world, entering the market can only be good for widespread adoption.

Although news like Fidelity, EDX, and Nasdaq aren’t great for industry originals such as Coinbase and FTX, these are the types of stories we’ll need to see more of for crypto to reach its full potential.

Crypto Tax Payments

Colorado made headlines on Tuesday when it became the first state in the Union to accept crypto as payment for taxes.

Coloradans can now use crypto to pay their individual income tax, business income tax, sales and use tax, withholding tax, severance tax, and excise fuel tax.

However, there are two catches:

• They have to pay using PayPal.

• Crypto tax payments are charged an additional $1 plus 1.83% of the payment amount in fees.

Although we can’t be sure of how many people will ultimately pay their taxes with crypto, it’s nice to see a state government begin to embrace the movement.