Wells Fargo Starts Introducing Bitcoin As An Investment, Here's Why

Wells Fargo banking services Bitcoin trading lyrics. (photo credit: jack Cohen/unsplash)

JAKARTA – Wells Fargo, one of the oldest banks in the United States, has registered a new joint investment fund that offers their clients indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC).

Wells Fargo's filing of a “Security Free Offer Notice”, also known as Form D, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, reveals that the fund is called the “FS NYDIG BITCOIN FUND I,”. This reflects the fact that the fund was established as a limited partnership with investment services firm NYDIG and alternative asset manager FS Investments.

The notice indicates that the Wells Fargo Clearing Service will receive placement and service fees for all clients referring to the fund. It also indicates that the fund's first sale has yet to take place and Wells Fargo expects the offering to last more than a year.

NYDIG, or New York Digital Investment Group, is owned by Stone Ridge Asset Management, which has implemented a Bitcoin-focused investment strategy through indirect exposure and made direct Bitcoin purchases through NYDIG.

NYDIG has also partnered with JPMorgan Chase on a new Bitcoin fund this summer, just one of six megabank crypto funds, where it has offered crypto exposure to a wide range of clients.

Wells Fargo's pivot to crypto reflects the growing popularity of the asset class on Wall Street, and is attracting the likes of Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.

This May, Darrell Cronk, president of the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, told reporters that the institute now assesses that the cryptocurrency space has “reached an evolution and maturation of its development which has allowed it to now become an investable asset.”

Wells Fargo has started offering exposure to high-value clients. As recently as December 2020, the head of real asset strategy at the institute had suggested that they have little interest in crypto.