Wells Fargo Boosts Ether ETF Holdings in First Quarter, Increases Strategy Stake 125%
Summary
- Wells Fargo sharply increased its holdings of spot Ether (ETH) ETFs in the first quarter, expanding its ETF exposure even during a period of price weakness.
- Over the same period, Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs saw mixed adjustments depending on the product, though Bitcoin ETFs still made up the overwhelming share of the bank’s overall crypto ETF portfolio.
- Wells Fargo increased its holdings of Strategy by about 125%% while cutting its Galaxy Digital stake by about 97%%.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Wells Fargo increased its holdings of spot Ether exchange-traded funds in the first quarter, while making mixed adjustments to its Bitcoin ETF positions and sharply raising its stake in Strategy.
Cointelegraph reported on May 12 that the U.S. bank disclosed larger holdings of BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) and the Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) in a Form 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Its ETHA holdings rose about 63.5% to roughly 1.1 million shares in the first quarter from about 672,600 shares in the fourth quarter of last year. Its ETHW holdings also increased, climbing about 37% to more than 257,000 shares from about 186,800 shares.
The increase suggests Wells Fargo expanded its long-term Ether exposure despite weakness in the token’s price.
CoinGlass data show Ether fell about 28% in the fourth quarter of last year and about 29% in the first quarter of this year, marking a second straight quarterly decline.
Over the same period, spot Ether ETFs recorded about $769 million in net outflows.
Even so, Wells Fargo’s Ether ETF holdings were valued at about $21.5 million in the first quarter. ETHA accounted for the largest portion at about $17.6 million.
Its Bitcoin ETF positions, by contrast, moved in different directions depending on the product.
Wells Fargo reduced its holdings of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), but increased its positions in the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) and Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) by about 24% and 41%, respectively.
Still, Bitcoin ETFs continued to dominate the bank’s overall crypto ETF portfolio. Its IBIT holdings alone were valued at about $250 million.
The bigger change came in crypto-related stocks.
Wells Fargo cut its holdings of Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital by about 97%, reducing the position to about 78,600 shares in the first quarter from about 2.5 million shares in the previous quarter.
By contrast, its holdings of Michael Saylor’s Strategy rose about 125% to 726,000 shares from about 322,700 shares. Based on exposure, the increase was estimated at about $41.6 million.
Minseung Kang
minriver@bloomingbit.ioBlockchain journalist | Writer of Trade Now & Altcoin Now, must-read content for investors.
