blockworks.co
Brokerage firm Fidelity Investments launched its financial education experience in the metaverse in the hopes of attracting a new generation of customers.
Decentraland users are encouraged to learn the basics of ETF investing while exploring the Fidelity Stack, a multi-story building that features a lobby, dance floor and rooftop sky garden.
“We’re part of a dynamic shift as young people take control of their finances in new ways,” David Dintenfass, Fidelity’s chief marketing officer and head of emerging customers, said in a statement. “The next generation seeks out financial education in all the places they spend time, whether physical or virtual.”
Bank analysts at Citi recently projected the Web3 economy to reach between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030.
JPMorgan unveiled a virtual lounge in Decentraland in February, and financial services provider HSBC revealed last month it would acquire virtual real estate in The Sandbox metaverse.
Fidelity seeking to offer educational resources to younger investors comes after a survey published earlier this month found that kids are more familiar with crypto than their parents. The study, conducted by T. Rowe Price, found that 40% of the children surveyed believe crypto is the future of investing.
Investopedia’s 2022 Financial Literacy Survey found that while crypto investments are popular among Gen Z, millennial, and Gen X investors, 49% of Americans have only a rudimentary understanding of digital currency.
Fidelity’s metaverse experience launch came the same day that the company listed its Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF (FDIG) and its Metaverse ETF (FMET) after filing for the funds in January.
FDIG and FMET, which track Fidelity indices, have expense ratios of 39 basis points.
“These are obviously two topics that are hot and of interest to our clients, and we want to be able to solve their needs,” Greg Friedman, Fidelity’s head of ETF management and strategy, told Blockworks during last week’s Exchange ETF conference in Miami. “Crypto is just another asset class.”