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Fidelity Digital Assets
7.8/10 · SCOREDFidelity Digital Assets is valuable in custody research as an incumbent benchmark, not as a direct substitute for every Bitcoin-native custody product.
Provider holds the keys. Low friction.
Custody is two trade-offs: how much control you keep, and how much operational friction you accept. Fidelity Digital Assets sits in the provider-custodied half — the custodian holds the signing keys and you hold a legal claim, not direct control, with low day-to-day friction.
Editorial positioning — not a numeric scoring axis. Grey markers are reference archetypes, not the full universe.
Fidelity Digital Assets vs the other custody options.
The org, the research angle.
Fidelity Digital Assets belongs on the watchlist because it helps define the incumbent-institution end of the custody spectrum. Even where it is not the likely product for a typical reader, it gives the research a useful benchmark for what large traditional-firm custody looks like.
The 8-factor breakdown.
NYDFS-chartered trust company operating since 2019; backed by Fidelity Investments' broader operational and insurance framework. No client-asset loss event disclosed. The OCC conditionally approved Fidelity Digital Assets' conversion to a national trust bank (Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association) on Dec 12, 2025 (pending completion); the NYDFS trust charter remains the current anchor.
The receipts.
Every figure on Fidelity Digital Assets traces to a primary document. These are the ones we read — open any of them.
Custody model: institutional cold-storage custody (deep cold storage, multi-person/multi-org access controls, geographic dispersion).
Regulatory status (original): NYDFS limited-purpose trust charter granted 2019.
Regulatory status (current): OCC-approved conversion to Fidelity Digital Assets, N.A. (national trust bank), 2025-12-12.