Fidelity unveils FIDD, a regulated dollar stablecoin built on Ethereum

Fidelity is preparing to issue FIDD, a dollar‑pegged token intended for both institutional desks and retail clients that will run on the Ethereum mainnet and be transferable to compatible wallets or protocols. The stablecoin will be issued by Fidelity’s federally chartered crypto arm and marketed as native infrastructure to accelerate settlement, lower payment costs and bridge fiat accounts with onchain liquidity. Reserves backing FIDD will be held in cash, cash equivalents and short‑term U.S. Treasuries; Fidelity says it will publish daily reserve disclosures alongside independent third‑party attestations to provide persistent transparency. That conservative reserve and disclosure framework reflects a deliberate distinction from models that rely on custodial stablecoins or pooled USDC backing, and Fidelity cites recent federal regulatory clarity as a key enabler for launching a regulated product. Operationally, the firm aims to use existing custody and asset‑management capabilities to streamline fiat onramps, support 24/7 finality for institutional settlement and offer retail users an onchain dollar option tied to an established financial brand. The choice of Ethereum prioritizes broad interoperability with decentralized finance and existing exchange rails, with potential future expansion to other chains or layer‑2 networks to increase reach. Fidelity’s move comes as other market participants — notably some exchanges — test branded or white‑label dollar tokens that lean on custodial USDC relationships and multichain distribution plans, highlighting divergent issuer strategies across the industry. That competitive context matters: designs that anchor to a third‑party custodian can speed time‑to‑market but concentrate counterparty exposure, whereas Fidelity’s approach emphasizes balance‑sheet stewardship and direct reserve control. How quickly exchanges list FIDD, how resilient daily attestations prove under stress and whether counterparties accept the token in trading and treasury workflows will shape adoption. The initiative increases competitive pressure on native stablecoin issuers and exchange operators alike and is likely to focus regulatory attention on reserve practices, custody arrangements and redemption guarantees. Success for FIDD will depend on execution across reserves, disclosures, smart‑contract integrations and onchain liquidity provisioning.