Coinbase account integrated, internal restaurant accepts Bitcoin payments, CEO is still mining, how much does Fidelity Investments love Bitcoin?

Fidelity Investments CEO Abigail Johnson announced the company's full Bitcoin plan at the Consensus 2017 conference. Currently, the company is testing integration with Coinbase and has already used 21 INC's computers for mining. In addition, Fidelity Investments' employee cafeteria can also pay with Bitcoin.

Fidelity CEO Supports Bitcoin

Johnson took over Fidelity Investments from her father late last year. The company has $2.2 trillion in assets and manages retirement and savings plans for about 26 million individuals and 23,000 companies.

Johnson talked about Bitcoin and blockchain technology in his speech, and also revealed some of Fidelity Investments' plans.

I come from a traditional financial services company, but we at Fidelity can see that the development of technology is disrupting the entire industry.

Fidelity Restaurant Accepts Bitcoin Payments

Johnson said that Fidelity employees can already use Bitcoin to buy lunch at the headquarters cafeteria. However, she said that fewer than 100 employees have chosen this option so far. She added:

I guess we have a lot of (Bitcoin) holders.

She shared the experience of one of her employees, Alex, whom she called the "Bitcoin Pirate." Alex sold a drink at a restaurant and paid for it with Bitcoin. He later wanted to return the drink, but "the Bitcoin network was congested," Johnson recalled, so "the entire refund process took hours."

After that, Alex “gave up in despair,” he said: “Bitcoin is like the Matrix model — I can’t use it in real life.”

Bitcoin's availability is a hindrance to adoption, Johnson explained.

If you expect the current Bitcoin to beat Visa, you will be disappointed.

However, she remains confident in the digital currency.

I’m still a Bitcoin believer… and if nothing else, I’m one of the few people from a large financial services firm who hasn’t given up on crypto.

Coinbase Integration

Another big announcement from Johnson was the integration with bitcoin exchange and payment processor Coinbase.

The company’s charitable donation account has been accepting Bitcoin since November 2015. The account has received 800万美元worth of Bitcoin so far.

Fidelity customers are interested in the ability to view digital currency deposits through the company's website. Johnson said the feature has been tested internally among employees and will be available to all customers soon.

Researching Microtransactions and Bitcoin Mining

Johnson revealed that Fidelity Labs, the research group of Fidelity, has invested in some Bitcoin companies and has also cooperated with universities, including MIT's digital currency project.

We have launched several proof-of-concept projects that can accept Bitcoin microtransactions.

In addition to micropayments, Fidelity is also exploring various applications of blockchain technology through a number of collaborations.

Blockchain technology can do more than just make securities settlement more efficient. It can revolutionize market architecture and even the architecture of the internet itself.

In addition, Fidelity also uses 21INC's computers to mine Bitcoin.

With a learning mindset, we set up some small bitcoin and ethereum mining rigs.

So far, "my computer has mined more than 200,000 satoshis (equivalent to 0.002 coins) of Bitcoin," she said.

I love this kind of stuff…and the future of it…I think there are going to be big emerging markets and products in these open platforms.