Wells Fargo is reportedly in talks with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, for Payward to supply liquidity for digital assets trading, according to two people familiar with the matter cited by CoinDesk; talks are ongoing and may not result in a deal, and both companies declined to comment. The potential arrangement would give the bank a route into crypto markets without building all of the trading infrastructure itself, and would extend a digital assets push that already includes spot Bitcoin ETFs for eligible wealth clients, investments in crypto compliance firm Elliptic and trading technology provider Talos, plans for blockchain-based deposits, and participation in a dollar stablecoin consortium. The main objective is to deepen Wells Fargo’s capital markets tech capabilities in crypto trading, while Payward separately pursues a broader infrastructure partnership with custody bank BNY covering custody, trading, wealth management, and payments. Key players include Wells Fargo, Payward, and BNY, with Nasdaq having used Wells Fargo as its exclusive capital markets adviser on its $100 million investment in Payward.

Wells Fargo Is Making a Move on Crypto, and Kraken Could Be the Key