Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.

Bitcoin is unique in that there are a finite number of them: 21 million.

Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services.

As of February 2015, over 100,000 merchants and vendors accepted bitcoin as payment.

Fidelity Investments is an American multinational financial services corporation with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1946 as Fidelity Management & Research by Edward C.

Johnson II. It offers investment management, retirement planning, estate planning, wealth management, and brokerage services to retail and institutional investors.

Fidelity does not currently allow its customers to use their accounts to purchase Bitcoin directly. However, there are indirect ways to do so.

For example, customers can use their Fidelity account to purchase shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) through their brokerage account. GBTC is an investment vehicle that holds Bitcoin and allows investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without having to directly purchase or hold it themselves.