Fidelity Digital Assets addresses the investigation into cryptocurrency withdrawal restrictions in California

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that his office has reached a $500,000 settlement agreement with Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association (the successor entity of Fidelity Digital Asset Services), regarding the company's previous practice of restricting California retail customers from transferring cryptocurrency to external wallets.

Regulators believe that this practice may violate the California Commodity Act of 1990; this law restricts certain speculative commodity contracts unless the buyer obtains physical delivery within a specified time, and the California government views the ability to withdraw cryptocurrency as a functional equivalent of delivery. From November 2022 to April 2025, California customers could buy and sell cryptocurrency on the Fidelity platform but were unable to send assets directly to external wallets. Fidelity stated that this restriction stemmed from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) not approving the relevant functionality at that time; the license was approved in April 2025, and the transfer feature will be extended to all California retail customers in June 2025.