This article comes fromThis article comes from, Original Author: Suman Bhattacharyya

Odaily Translator | Nian Yin Si Tang

Odaily Translator | Nian Yin Si Tang

Fidelity Digital Asset Services LLC, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments established several years ago to allow institutional investors to store and trade bitcoin, expects demand for the cryptocurrency to increase amid market volatility and plans to Double the number of employees this year.

Tom Jessop, president of Fidelity Digital Asset, said the company plans to hire 110 technologists, including engineers and developers with blockchain expertise, to build digital infrastructure to support cryptocurrency services other than bitcoin. The subsidiary also plans to add 100 customer service specialists.Before Fidelity Digital Asset announced the expansion plans, Fidelity Investments said in April this year,Allows investors to open bitcoin accounts in their 401(k)

. Later this year, the 23,000 companies that use Fidelity to manage their retirement plans will have the option to add bitcoin to their retirement savings menu. It is reported that this is the first major retirement plan provider to launch this initiative.Notably, one senior executive stated,U.S. Department of Labor officials believe

, Fidelity Investments' plan to allow investors to deposit bitcoin into 401(k) accounts could jeopardize the retirement security of Americans. “We are deeply concerned about what Fidelity has done,” Ali Khawar, acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Employees Benefits and Security Administration, said in an interview.Jessop said, inEstablished in 2018

Fidelity Digital Assets, the newly recruited technical staff will help build the infrastructure to support custody and trading services for the digital currency ETH on the Ethereum network. The platform was originally established to handle the storage, security and transactions of Bitcoin.

Jessop further stated that the team will also migrate platform data and applications to the cloud to support faster transactions and 24-hour transaction support, and ensure that the platform continues to provide institutional-grade security as it evolves. Additionally, the team will look at compliance and tax filing tools.

Despite market turmoil, including sharp falls in cryptocurrency prices in recent weeks, Fidelity Digital Assets said it plans to continue investing in the technology that underpins crypto transactions.

"We try not to focus on the downside of the market, but on some long-term indicators," such as customer demand, Jessop said. "We are trying to build infrastructure for the future, because we measure success in years or decades. Not weeks or months."

Jessop joined Fidelity in January 2018, after nine months as president of blockchain company Chain Inc. Prior to joining Chain, he spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in various senior positions.

Jessop believes that the decline in cryptocurrency prices will have little impact on Fidelity Digital Assets, although he admits that new customer acquisition has slowed.

Terrence Dempsey, head of product at Fidelity Digital Assets, said the firm has about 400 clients, including registered investment advisors, hedge funds and asset managers.

Demand for engineers and developers working on blockchain and cryptocurrency projects continues to grow despite market pressures, said Dylan Gomez, director and director of software engineering at financial services recruiting firm Selby Jennings. "Competition has definitely increased and wages have been pushed up," he said.

According to statistics from the U.S. Information Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), job advertisements seeking encryption technology talents quadrupled between January 1 and May 24 compared with the same period last year.