Fidelity has filed three trademark applications to provide services in the metaverse and other virtual worlds in its latest move in the digital asset space. The trademarks filing is just the firm’s latest move in the field of digital assets.
According to the filings, the global asset management giant wants to provide its traditional services in alternate realities, mentioning NFTs and NFT marketplaces, virtual real estate investing, crypto trading, and metaverse investment services.
Fidelity has been quicker to embrace digital assets than most other large investment companies. In October, it said it was planning 100 more crypto hires to expand its digital asset team to 500. The firm also opened commission-free retail crypto trading accounts in November after first announcing a waiting list.
Lately, Fidelity has received some regulatory pushback. Last month, three US senators asked it to reconsider a decision to allow retirement plan participants to invest in Bitcoin, citing the industry has become increasingly “volatile, tumultuous and chaotic.”
The trademarks filing is just the firm’s latest move in the field of digital assets. In July, the firm’s crypto subsidiary Fidelity Digital reportedly hired 100 more people in Salt Lake City, Boston, and Dublin to service the growing needs of institutional investors. According to Bloomberg, Fidelity Digital is planning to increase its staff size by about 70% to handle the growing patronage from big-money crypto investors. While Fidelity Digital president Tom Jessop said that the company is looking to offer exposure to other cryptocurrencies apart from Bitcoin.
In October, Fidelity Digital Assets revealed plans to add about 100 more people to its team over the next three to six months, according to Chris Tyrer, head of Fidelity Digital Asset Management and Fidelity Digital Assets Europe. This comes after the company revealed in May that it was seeking to double its headcount by the end of the year by adding 210 people to its force.