News
Fidelity’s Cryptocurrency Custody Business Sees 60% Loss in 2023
Cryptocurrency custodian service Fidelity Digital Assets has seen revenue fall by almost 60% in 2023, with losses rising to more than £7m.
Fidelity’s cryptocurrency custody business Loyalty digital resources launched in 2018 in a bid to expand its crypto services, it generated revenue of £545,000 (~$695,000) over the past year, marking a 59% decline from £1.34 million for 2022, the Financial News relationshipsciting documents filed by Fidelity at Companies House.
As well as the decrease in revenue, operating expenses also increased by 32% year-on-year to £7.8m in 2023, driven largely by increased staff salaries, the report noted. In total, Fidelity Digital Assets reported a loss of £7.1 million for 2023, up almost £5 million from 2022’s £2.5 million.
Addressing losses, Fidelity says revenue “is expected to grow upward as trading activity increases[…] custody and trading services, as the acquisition of further new clients is expected.” The revenue decline is reportedly attributed to a decline in service level agreement fees.
In early 2023, Fidelity lost its crypto chief Chris Tyrer, who had been leading the company’s crypto efforts since 2019 as head of Europe. In late May, Tyrer joined Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by Peter Thiel, as head of strategy.
In mid-May, crypto.news reported that Synnax, an AI-powered financial platform designed for credit analysis and rating, has hired former Fidelity International digital assets head Luc Froehlich as its new chief commercial officer to lead the company’s business strategy and operations agency.