Through a new fund established in collaboration with NYDIG and FS Investments, Wells Fargo is providing its rich clients with indirect exposure to Bitcoin.
Wells Fargo, one of the country’s oldest banks, has launched a new pooled investment fund to provide its rich clients with indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC).
Fargo’s filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of a “Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities” — also known as a Form D — reveals that the fund will be called “FS NYDIG BITCOIN FUND I.”
Reflecting the fact that it will be formed as a limited partnership with investment services company NYDIG and alternative asset manager FS Investments.
According to the announcement, Wells Fargo Clearing Services will receive placement and servicing fees for all clients referred to the fund by Wells Fargo Clearing Services. Additionally, it indicates that the fund’s initial sale has not yet occurred and that Fargo anticipates the offering to run longer than a year.
NYDIG, or New York Digital Investing Group, is controlled by Stone Ridge Asset Management, which has followed a Bitcoin-focused investment strategy through indirect exposure and direct Bitcoin acquisitions through NYDIG.
Additionally, NYDIG collaborated with JPMorgan Chase this summer to launch a new Bitcoin fund — one of the megabank’s six cryptocurrency funds through which it has been delivering crypto exposure to diverse clients.
Fargo’s shift to crypto follows the asset class’s growing appeal on Wall Street, with Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley among its early adopters.
This May, Darrel Cronk, president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute, told reporters that the institution now believes the cryptocurrency space has reached a stage of development and maturity that allows it to be a viable investable asset, and has begun offering exposure to its high-net-worth clients.
As recently as December 2020, the institute’s chief of real asset strategy indicated that the institute has no interest in cryptocurrency.
