Latest Fidelity filing outlines mainstream Bitcoin trading product

Fidelity has filed for a Regulation D exemption with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, for a Bitcoin-based financial product.

Known as the Wise Origin Bitcoin Index Fund, the product falls under the “pooled investment fund” category, according to the firm’s Form D filing, dated Aug. 26, 2020. Entities can offer a financial security without the SEC’s stamp of registration approval, as long as they file a Form D with the commission, according to information from the SEC’s website.  

Peter Jubber, Fidelity’s president, filed the Form D for the Bitcoin (BTC) index product, which touts a $100,000 minimum investment. The filing lists the product under a 506(b) federal exemption — allowing Fidelity to offer the product to as many accredited investors as it desires, although only 35 finance-savvy non-accredited investors can participate, according to a different SEC website page.

Under 506(b), Fidelity also must not advertise the product to the general public. Several other details and parameters also exist. 

Over the course of 2020 thus far, Bitcoin has garnered institutional interest from a number of players, including billionaire hedge fund founder Paul Tudor Jones. Fidelity itself also recently labeled Bitcoin an “aspirational store of value.”