TradFi’s Tipping Point: Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson on Stablecoins, Bitcoin, and Innovation Bets

a16z crypto show

Andreessen Horowitz

Distributed Computing, Blockchain, Art, Innovation, Web 3, Technology, Culture, Internet, Public Goods, Business, Decentralization, Open Source, Creator Economy, Music, Gaming, Cypherpunk, Visual Arts, Crypto, Arts, Web 3.0, Entertainment, Computing, Computer Science, Blockchains, Entrepreneurship, Ownership, Web3, Cryptography

4.4 • 66 Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson shares an inside look into Fidelity’s decade of crypto experimentation -- from early Bitcoin mining to building foundational custody infrastructure to stablecoins and much more. How Fidelity explored dozens of crypto use cases; why only one initially mattered, and how a single foothold shaped a long-term institutional strategy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Crypto did kind of arouse some very primal feelings amongst a lot of people.
0:07.3	Well, it really started as a learning curiosity thing.
0:12.1	They mostly didn't understand it.
0:13.9	We just started hearing about this Bitcoin stuff, and we're like, wow, what is this?
0:18.6	It could really someday lead to radical changes in our business.
0:32.0	Welcome to Web 3 with A6 and Z.
0:34.3	I'm Sonal and today we're sharing a special episode with Abigail Johnson,
0:39.0	chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments. Abby covers everything from early moves in Bitcoin and
0:44.2	mining, custody, and all things, stable coins, to placing innovation bets, build versus buy, and much
0:51.3	more. It's an especially fitting discussion in what we've dubbed
0:54.7	the year of institutional adoption, where traditional finance is embracing crypto at a whole new
0:59.9	level. We originally recorded this interview at our recent Founder Summit event in conversation
1:05.6	with A6 and Z crypto CEO Anthony Albanyes, who kicks it off. Okay, good morning, everyone. I'm very excited to be here with Abby Johnson, CEO of Fidelity. Welcome, Abby. Thank you. It's so excited to have you. I've been hearing from so many folks in this room, how excited they already hear from you. So we're excited the moment is here. So let's jump right into it. So as you know, Abby, I have a
1:29.2	background in traditional finance. I came from the New York Stock Exchange when I joined A16 Z crypto.
1:34.5	And I know how hard it was back in the day to try to get a big institution, financial institution,
1:40.5	into crypto. But you did it early at Fidelity. Almost a decade ago, you got Fidelity
1:45.5	into crypto. Tell us why you did it and how you did it. Yeah. Well, it really started as kind of a
1:53.4	learning, curiosity thing. I mean, one of the things we try to do at Fidelity is really build,
1:59.5	you know, a learning and a curiosity kind of oriented culture.
2:04.5	So me and a bunch of people, like we just started hearing about this Bitcoin stuff and
2:09.6	we're like, wow, what is this and how does it work? And none of us really could answer the
2:15.0	question very clearly. So we just started these regular conversations where
	...

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