Fidelity hires a product specialist to focus on the 'big picture' for its crypto operations

Fidelity has scooped up another hire from crypto world. 

Michael Zinaman joined Fidelity earlier this month, according to his LinkedIn profile. A source with knowledge of the matter told The Block that Zinaman has been appointed to focus on the “big picture” and strategy for the financial services giant's crypto operations, which span custody, venture, and execution services. The hire was a point of conversation at an industry event in New York on Monday with one trading firm executive commenting, "Fidelity has been hiring impressive talent."

Before joining Fidelity, Zinaman worked as managing director of blockchain and digital assets at Canada-based financial services company Canaccord Genuity for over a year, per the profile.

A Fidelity spokesperson told The Block that Zinaman recently joined another division of Fidelity, working on a range of products across the firm. "He is not an employee of Fidelity Digital Assets," the spokesperson added. 

Still, Zinaman's profile said he was a "Product Specialist at Fidelity Digital Assets." After we reached out for comment, his profile read "Fidelity."

"I’m looking at our internal org charts and have also confirmed with Human Resources that he does not report into Fidelity Digital Assets which is why we asked him to correct his profile," the spokesperson said of the change. 

Previously, Zinaman also held leadership roles in institutional sales at trading firms Imperial Capital and GMP Securities for over a decade combined.

Zinaman is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has a bachelor's degree in economics from New York University, per the profile.

Over $7 trillion customer assets

Fidelity, having over $7 trillion in client assets under management, set up its Digital Assets unit in October 2018, but had been researching it since early 2014. Earlier this year, the unit launched a cryptocurrency custody service, which went fully live just last month. The firm also offers cryptocurrency trade execution services with institutional focus.

Fidelity Digital Assets head Tom Jessop told The Block earlier this year that the firm would look to provide clients with a platform that can minimize administrative risks and locate the best price in cryptocurrency trading. “I think effectively a smart order router, or logic, would interrogate the market, find the best offer, and allow the client to execute at that price."

Fidelity also runs a cryptocurrency venture capital unit called Avon, as The Block reported last month. The firm has made three public investments - crypto lending firm BlockFi and blockchain data analytics firms Flipside Crypto and Elementus. A Fidelity spokesperson told The Block at the time that Avon focuses on "identifying the early use cases for crypto and blockchain technology and investing in businesses that will accelerate growth and adoption."

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