As cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD gains in price and interest from investors and people new to the sector, the coin is gaining more use cases from companies. While some companies are adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets, like Tesla Inc TSLA and Block Inc SQ, there are now two companies that will offer a way for employees to invest in Bitcoin as part of their retirement plans.
What Happened: Fidelity Investments announced the launch of new 401 (k) investments called Digital Assets Accounts that will include access to investing a portion of retirement savings in Bitcoin, in what the company calls a first for the industry.
Fidelity said there was growing demand from employers to offer access to Bitcoin via 401 (k) plans.
“Enabling interested employers to offer their employees access to Bitcoin through an investment option in their core 401 (k) retirement plans on Fidelity’s secure platforms is a significant milestone in advancing Fidelity’s position as a holistic digital assets service provider,” Fidelity said.
The first company to leverage the new retirement plans will be MicroStrategy Inc MSTR, a company that is no stranger to Bitcoin. The company is run by Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor and has been adding Bitcoin to its holdings.
“MicroStrategy looks forward to working with Fidelity to become the first public company to offer their employees the option to invest in Bitcoin as part of our 401 (k) program,” Saylor said.
Saylor told CNBC that MicroStrategy employees had been requesting Bitcoin as an option for their retirement accounts.
“It is less risky than bonds, stocks, commercial real estate, than gold – it was kind of built for this,” Saylor said.
The plan from Fidelity is expected to be available to employers by mid-2022.
Related Link: How To Buy Bitcoin
Why It’s Important: Fidelity is one of many financial companies that have grown their offerings in the cryptocurrency space.
The company explored Bitcoin mining in 2014 and launched its first commercial offering in the space in 2018 called Fidelity Digital Assets. The offering provided custody and trade execution for digital assets like Bitcoin for institutional investors.
Fidelity also launched a private Bitcoin fund in 2020 that is available to accredited investors.
Fidelity is one of the largest financial management companies with $11.3 trillion assets under administration.
Price Action: Bitcoin is priced at $38,488.89 on Sunday afternoon, trading flat over the past 24 hours.
