Bitcoin Daily: Fidelity Unveils Crypto Services Firm; Sony Creates Blockchain-Based Rights System

Bitcoin, XRP and Ethereum rose on Monday (Oct. 15) as tether — a digital currency that is reportedly tied to value of the U.S. dollar — fell, CNBC reported. The news comes after last weeks’ crypto downturn that happened at the same time as the world’s stock markets experienced a sell-off. While bitcoin rose to nearly $7,000 at 8 a.m. London time, Tether fell to around 93 cents in the morning. CryptoCompare Chief Executive Charles Hayter told CNBC  “There is concern about tether and whether it is truly backed by dollars and rumors about USDT (tether) being delisted from various exchanges.” Bitcoin was up 4.79 percent to $6,520.46 as of 7:41 p.m. on Monday (October 15), while Ethereum was up 7.24 percent to $209.82.

In other news, Sony has turned to the blockchain to create a system for digital rights management, CoinDesk reported. The offering, which could have be used for education content, could manage copyright data. It could help participants verify author details and the date as well as time of a content’s creation — and provide that information to others. Beyond education uses, the system could be useful to videos and ebooks, among other types of content. In a press release, Sony said, “Through the technological development and commercialization of blockchains, including with this new system, Sony will continue exploring the possibilities that blockchain technology holds for Sony Group’s diverse and wide-ranging business domains.”

And Fidelity has unveiled a new company to help institutional investors with the trade execution and custody of digital currencies, CNBC reported. The firm, which is called Fidelity Digital Asset Services, will only serve institutions like family offices, endowments and hedge funds. Fidelity Investments Chairman and CEO Abigail Johnson noted in a press release that the idea behind the company was to make digital assets like bitcoin more accessible: “We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to understand and use.”