Fidelity Digital Assets‘ $500,000 settlement with California adds a written-notice commitment if it stops offering ordinary retail crypto transfers. Tax-advantaged accounts, including individual retirement accounts, remain outside the agreement’s transfer obligations.
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Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the deal Oct. 16 over allegations about past withdrawal restrictions at Fidelity Digital Asset Services. The settling entity, Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, is its successor. Fidelity denies wrongdoing and entered the agreement without admitting a violation of law.
The company agreed to pay the attorney general $500,000 in recognition of investigation-related fees and costs and to settle the released potential claims. The agreement specifies no customer compensation fund.
The agreement describes a period from November 2022 through April 2025 when California retail customers could buy and sell crypto but could not transfer it directly off the platform. Regulatory permission came in April 2025, and the transfer feature reached all California customers by June 2025.
The settlement recognizes that existing ability to transfer crypto to external wallets, subject to applicable law. If Fidelity decides to stop offering transfers as a feature for retail customers, it must give its California customers reasonable written notice.
Fidelity can still restrict or disallow transfers to protect its platform or individual account holders.
Fidelitys state-availability page, checked Oct. 18, continues to list crypto deposits and withdrawals for ordinary Fidelity Crypto accounts in California.
IRAs retain separate access rules
The agreement says Fidelity plans to launch Fidelity Crypto IRA accounts in California, without specifying a launch date. It also expressly excludes the covered tax-advantaged accounts from its transfer obligation, including IRAs and accounts subject to federal requirements for nontaxable transfers between retirement accounts.
Fidelitys current IRA FAQ says the product remains unavailable in California and Oregon.
Where Fidelity Crypto IRAs are offered, the FAQ says crypto transfers are unavailable and customers cannot withdraw money or crypto directly from the account. Instead, they can move money from its U.S. dollar position to the linked Fidelity brokerage IRA and use that accounts withdrawal features.