Fidelity Investments, a major financial firm in the United States, recently filed trademarks for a wave of Web3 offerings such as cryptocurrency, investment, and non-fungible token (NFT) services, it was revealed on social media on Tuesday.
Mike Kondoudis, a licensed trademark attorney for the US Patent Trademark Office (USPTO), tweeted at the time documents detailing the filings.
The new patents focus on technologies linked to the metaverse, the successor to the mobile internet. It will involve several investment services such as mutual funds, retirement funds, financial planning, and others, for people travelling the virtual landscape.
Fidelity Investments could launch payments systems in the Metaverse for paying bills, transferring funds to other users, and “financial administration of credit card accounts in the metaverse and other virtual worlds.”
It could launch cryptocurrency services for asset management, buying, selling, and trading across the Metaverse. This would also facilitate coin holdings in digital wallets.
The filing states: “Electronic wallet services in the nature of electronic storage and processing of virtual currency for electronic payments and transactions via a global computer network; digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency digital token.”
The company currently hosts its Metaverse platform on Decentraland, the world’s largest Metaverse platform. Visitors can soon join its online marketplace to buy and sell digital assets.
Services Portfolio Expansion
To expand on its portfolio of services, Fidelity Investments will provide educational programmes by “conducting classes, workshops, seminars and conferences in the field of investments and in the field of marketing financial services.”
Another filing reads: “Providing business information to financial service providers by means of an internet web site, in the field of business marketing in the metaverse and other virtual worlds; referral services in the field of investment advice and financial planning in the metaverse and other virtual worlds.”
It also plans to incorporate NFTs in its metaverse ambitions. The investment firm stated it may also launch an “online marketplace for buyers and sellers of digital media, namely, non-fungible tokens,” however further details on such are sparse.
Despite the ongoing cryptocurrency and tech bear markets, fuelled by the collapse of FTX and Meta Platform’s metaverse priority shifts, Fidelity will continue to push for a workable platform for its current and future Web3 users.
It also urged in a response letter to US senators to tighten restrictions on cryptocurrency markets. A spokesperson for the financial firm stated it had “always prioritized operational excellence and customer protection.” It added that recent events in the cryptocurrency industry had “underscored the importance of standards and safeguards.”
On its metaverse website, Fidelity stated: “Our presence on Metaverse platforms is a place for you to learn more about personal finance and to access information from Fidelity. While we are pleased to be in the Metaverse, keep in mind that communications in our industry are highly regulated.”
