DURHAM – Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, has added the ability for users to trade and invest in the cryptocurrency ether on its platform.

“We are very pleased to introduce support for ether on the Fidelity Digital Assets platform,” a spokesperson for Fidelity told WRAL TechWire this week.  “We are adding ether to our platform to address the growing interest from our institutional clients.”

Fidelity announced the addition in an email sent to customers.

In a report issued earlier this year, Fidelity Digital Assets noted that Ethereum is “a digital asset network whose main value proposition is derived from its programmability. Ethereum features an open-ended architecture in hopes of attracting developers able to build useful applications and drive demand for use of the Ethereum network and its native token, ether.”

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Starting last week, Fidelity customers had access to Ethereum.  Earlier in October, Fidelity registered and disclosed an Ethereum Index Fund with the SEC.  That index was built using methodology explained in a December 2021 document from Fidelity.

The move was also reported by Forbes, which reported that a spokesperson for the company told the publication:

“As the marketplace for digital assets grows, Fidelity recognizes the need for a diverse set of products and solutions that help customers gain exposure in a manner that aligns with their distinct financial objectives and risk tolerance. We have continued to see client demand for exposure to digital assets beyond bitcoin.”

Ethereum is now the second cryptocurrency to trade on the Fidelity Digital Assets platform.

Earlier this year, Ethereum completed a software upgrade known as “The Merge,” which moved the platform to a proof-of-stake network.  That move was made to reduce the energy consumption of the blockchain network by as much as 99.95% according to the nonprofit entity Ethereum Foundation.

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