Financial services corporation Fidelity Investments has announced that it is joining the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3).
The Initiative, which was set up in 2015 with a National Science Foundation grant, comprises mainly academic institutions. Other private sector members of the body include IBM, Intel and blockchain startup Digital Asset.
A regular membership costs $150,000 per year.
Fidelity Labs, the R&D unit of Fidelity Investments, believes in the vast potential of digital currencies, smart contracts and blockchain applications for the future development of the financial services industry.
According to a report by CCN, Fidelity Investments filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for ‘FIDELITYCOIN’. The scope of the application encompasses financial exchange services for virtual currency and electronic wallets.
Fidelity Charitable, which is responsible for the philanthropic activity of the company, has been accepting donations in bitcoin since 2015. It reported that the cryptocurrency proceeds for 2016 amounted to $7 million.
