Wells Fargo in Talks With Payward for Crypto Liquidity — SkimNews
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- Payward is in talks to become a crypto liquidity provider to Wells Fargo, with the Wyoming-based company potentially supplying digital asset trading liquidity under the proposed deal
- Wells Fargo previously advised Nasdaq on its $100 million September investment in Payward, deepening ties that may now extend to direct liquidity provision
- Wells Fargo has expanded its crypto footprint with spot bitcoin ETFs for wealth clients, backing for Elliptic and Talos, a dollar stablecoin consortium seat, and plans for blockchain-based deposits — hiring former Citi banker Mark Gracia to lead the push
- Trump signed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, establishing a federal framework for payment stablecoins that the source cites as enabling today's bank-crypto partnerships
- Payward is separately in talks with custody banking giant BNY on a broad financial-infrastructure partnership covering crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, and payments
Why it matters: For Wells Fargo, tapping Payward would extend a crypto push already spanning ETFs, compliance investments, stablecoins, and deposits. For Payward, parallel BNY talks suggest crypto exchanges are increasingly becoming default infrastructure vendors for major banks navigating the post-GENIUS Act landscape.
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