Wells Fargo increased its Ether ETF holdings by 63.5% in the first quarter of 2026, bringing the position to about $21.5 million, according to the bank’s Q1 filings. The move shows a deliberate expansion into regulated Ethereum exposure, even as spot ETH markets faced pressure and some Ether ETFs saw outflows.
The bank’s Ether allocation was concentrated in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust, or ETHA, which accounted for roughly $17.6 million of the total. Smaller positions in Bitwise’s Ethereum product rounded out Wells Fargo’s updated ETH ETF sleeve, suggesting a selective preference for regulated wrappers rather than direct token exposure.
Bitcoin ETFs Remain the Core Allocation
Bitcoin ETFs still represented the largest part of Wells Fargo’s crypto ETF exposure. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust remained the bank’s largest single crypto ETF holding, at about $250 million, although the filing showed a modest reduction in that position.
The bank also adjusted its exposure across Bitcoin ETF providers. It increased its Bitwise Bitcoin ETF holding by roughly 24% and its Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF position by about 41%, pointing to provider-level rebalancing rather than a broad retreat from BTC.
That pattern suggests Wells Fargo is managing its crypto ETF sleeve through liquidity, fee structure and issuer preference. The bank kept Bitcoin as the anchor while using incremental Ether ETF exposure to broaden its regulated digital-asset allocation.
Crypto Equity Exposure Shifts Sharply
The filings also showed a significant rotation in crypto-linked equities. Wells Fargo nearly exited Galaxy Digital, cutting the position by about 97% and reducing exposure by an estimated $54.7 million, marking a sharp move away from a diversified crypto services play.
At the same time, the bank increased its MicroStrategy position by roughly 125%, adding about $41.6 million. That shift gave Wells Fargo more exposure to a corporate Bitcoin treasury proxy, rather than to a broader digital-asset operating company.
The move changes the risk profile of the bank’s indirect crypto exposure. Reducing Galaxy may lower certain operational counterparty risks, but adding MicroStrategy creates more concentrated issuer-specific Bitcoin correlation inside the equity portion of the portfolio.
Overall, Wells Fargo’s Q1 filings show tactical repositioning rather than a rejection of crypto exposure. The bank appears to be using regulated ETFs and selective equity proxies to refine its exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum and crypto-linked public companies.
Wells Fargo’s changes show capital moving across wrappers, managers and proxies, with regulated ETFs increasingly serving as the preferred route for direct digital-asset exposure.