Wells Fargo Offering Crypto Investment to Qualified Investors

One of the U.S.’s largest financial services, Wells Fargo will soon be rolling out an actively managed crypto strategy. Emphasizing that the firm has been searching for “a professionally managed solution” for months, Darrell Cronk, president of Wells Fargo Investment Institute expects that the latest service will be added to the platform around mid-June.

Wells Fargo Offering Crypto Investment Strategy

One of the U.S.’s largest financial services, Wells Fargo with almost $2 trillion in assets under management is offering cryptocurrency investment services to qualified investors.

President of Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Darrell Cronk, says that the investment strategy is likely to be available to qualified investors around mid-June:

“We think the cryptocurrency space has just kind of hit an evolution and maturation of its development that allows it now to be a viable investable asset,” says Cronk.

Crypto is an evolving asset that requires deep due diligence, according to Cronk, while labeling it as an “alternative investment” rather than “strategic allocation.”

According to him, there are still plenty of risks associated with cryptocurrency investing, such as operational, regulatory, and technology failures. Warning that cryptocurrency is an evolving asset class that needs deeper due diligence, Cronk adds:

“So we’re still not suggesting in our work that it is its own dedicated asset class with a strategic allocation to it in every portfolio.”

Qualified Investors Can Avail the Crypto Service

Wells Fargo’s latest crypto investment strategy will initially be limited to qualified investors.

“For those investors who qualify and have an interest, there’s some good academic and money-management work to suggest that it can be a nice diversifier to portfolio holdings.”

Nonetheless, Cronk did say that investing in digital assets involves risks:

“There’s a whole element of consumer protections and regulations that have to still evolve with the changing landscape. So we’re not without risk, it’s just that we think there can be a viable investable option for those clients who show an interest.”

The firm was previously concerned about the lack of regulatory clarity around cryptocurrencies.

For instance, in December, John LaForge, head of real asset strategy at Wells Fargo, said the bank is not recommending Bitcoin to clients as it didn’t have the infrastructure to hold cryptocurrencies in their accounts.