Honesty to hire more crypto hands amid growing interest in institutions 7/13/2021

Fidelity Digital, the crypto arm of global asset management giant Fidelity Investments Inc., is reportedly to be hiring more staff for its expanding crypto business.

According to Bloomberg on Monday, the company plans to increase its workforce by around 70% to match the growing patronage of large crypto investors.

According to the report, the workforce, increased to at least 100, will be deployed to locations in Salt Lake City, Boston and Dublin.

As part of the workforce increase, Tom Jessop, President of Fidelity Digital said the company is seeking exposure to cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (BTC) and told Bloomberg, “ We have seen more interest in ether, so we want to be one step ahead of that demand. “

In fact, institutional interest in Ether (ETH) has increased since the beginning of the year, with investment inflows for ETH-based products even exceeding Bitcoin in some cases.

In addition to diversifying into crypto portfolios and custody, the hires will also help the company extend its operating hours to offer full-time services “most days of the year”.

Unlike the old trading arena, the cryptocurrency market operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For Jessop, Fidelity Digital had to upgrade its operations to reflect this operating model.

Connected: Avalanche founder Emin Gün Sirer ‘pretty optimistic’ about the outlook for the crypto market

Jessop also offers a unique perspective to see the evolution of institutional crypto interest beyond hedge funds and family offices. According to the head of Fidelity Digital, pension companies and consultants are now looking for some form of exposure to crypto assets.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, blockchain founder Avalanche and Cornell University professor Emin Gün Sirer have revealed that pension funds aim to become the next big money players in the crypto space.

The current downturn in the crypto market has not dampened the enthusiasm of institutional investors either. In early July, the $ 55 billion hedge fund Marshall Wace announced plans to make late-stage investments in blockchain companies, with a particular focus on digital payment systems and stablecoins.