Wells Fargo in Talks With Kraken Parent Payward for Crypto Liquidity
Image: CoinGapeWells Fargo is in early talks with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to supply crypto trading liquidity for the bank's digital-asset trading operations. No formal deal has been confirmed by either company. Payward's B2B arm offers financial institutions crypto liquidity, custody, payments and settlement infrastructure. Recent Payward banking partnerships include a live SoFi deal, integrated SGB Net settlement, and reported BNY Mellon talks. Under the proposed structure, Payward would act as the execution-layer liquidity provider while Wells Fargo retains client relationships and branding.
Key points
- Wells Fargo is in early talks with Payward, Kraken's parent, for crypto trading liquidity.
- No formal Wells Fargo-Payward deal has been confirmed by either company.
- Payward's B2B arm provides crypto liquidity and related infrastructure to financial institutions.
- Payward has existing or reported banking partnerships with SoFi, SGB Net and BNY Mellon.
Why it matters
A confirmed deal would mark another major U.S. bank expanding crypto access for clients via a regulated third-party infrastructure provider. It would also strengthen Payward's position as a core supplier of crypto services to traditional financial firms.
What's unclear
The specific scope, eligible clients and asset classes covered by the Wells Fargo-Payward talks are undisclosed.
The current status of BNY Mellon's reported broader talks with Payward is unconfirmed.
Sources · 3 publishers
CoinGape
Tier 2
$2.3T Wells Fargo in Talks With Kraken Parent Payward for Crypto Trading Liquidity
Blockonomi
Tier 3
Wells Fargo (WFC) Stock: Drops as Kraken Parent Eyes Crypto Liquidity Deal
Coverage timeline
- First reported by Crypto Briefing
- Confirmed by CoinGape
- CryptoVideos brief published
- 1 more publisher added to sources
How this brief was made. Our system found this event in 3 independent publications, summarised two complete reports with AI and checked every number above against the source text. Sources are linked in full. Not financial advice. Report an error
