Wells Fargo to Offer Crypto Investment to Some Clients

The investments will likely be available to qualified investors next month.

By Jamie Crawley

May 19, 2021 at 2:40 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 12:57 p.m. UTC

Jamie Crawley

Wells Fargo’s wealth and investment management division will soon be rolling out an actively managed crypto strategy.

The investment strategy has been in development for months and is likely to be available to qualified investors around mid-June, Darrell Cronk, president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute, told Business Insider on Wednesday.
“We think the cryptocurrency space has just kind of hit an evolution and maturation of its development that allows it now to be a viable investable asset,” Cronk said.
In December, John LaForge, head of real-asset strategy at Wells Fargo, said the bank is not recommending bitcoin to clients because it didn’t have the infrastructure to hold crypto in their accounts.
Cronk said that crypto is an evolving asset that requires deep due diligence. He labelled it an “alternative investment” rather than “strategic allocation.”
Wells Fargo is one of the U.S.’s largest financial services companies, with assets of almost $2 trillion.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.