Microstrategy Adds Bitcoin Options for Employee 401(K) Plans

Along with Fidelity's announcement to offer Bitcoin investing for company 401(k) plans, Microstrategy accepted the offering for their own employees. CEO Michael Saylor stated that “MicroStrategy looks forward to working with Fidelity to become the first public company to offer their employees the option to invest in bitcoin as part of our 401(k) program.”

The 401(k) program, known as Fidelity’s workplace Digital Assets Account (DAA), is the industry’s first of its kind and sets a precedent for other institutions. Individuals will be able to allocate a selected portion of their savings into Bitcoin through the core 401(k) investment lineup. The Bitcoin will be held in the Fidelity Digital Assets custody platform as a security measure for the new 401(k) product providing institutional-grade security.

“As a leader in digital assets, we are thrilled to be the first to offer employers exposure to Bitcoin for the core lineup of 401(k)s that reflects our commitment to meeting their evolving needs and our belief in the promise of blockchain technology for the financial industry’s future,” said Dave Gray, Head of Workplace Retirement Offerings and Platforms at Fidelity in a press release.

In a survey done by Fidelity, seven in ten institutional investors plan on buying or investing in digital assets in the future, and more than 90% of those interested in digital assets expect to have an allocation in their institution’s or clients’ portfolios within the next five years. In the same study, Fidelity estimates over 80 million investors in the U.S. already own or have invested in the asset class, which is a signal that the market is growing for institutional investors.

Companies competing for their piece of the market share of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will continue to get increasingly more competitive. “Teaming with companies like Fidelity that are innovating in Bitcoin for corporations is important to us, as is furthering the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem for institutional investors,” says Saylor.

According to Fidelity in the press release, employers can expect updates on the program in the coming months.