Wells Fargo indicates a stronger commitment to cryptocurrency by submitting a trademark application for WFUSD.

This action reflects JPMorgan’s analogous trademark application that anticipated the bank’s rollout of tokenized deposits on the Ethereum layer-2 network Base.

Key details:

• Wells Fargo has submitted a trademark application related to cryptocurrency for WFUSD, indicating a stronger commitment to crypto and blockchain services.
• The filing with the USPTO suggests that WFUSD will facilitate cryptocurrency payment processing, digital asset trading, and software for asset tokenization, with the name implying a deposit token or stablecoin.
• This action follows similar initiatives by JPMorgan and occurs amidst growing interest from major U.S. banks in tokenized assets and stablecoins.

Wells Fargo (WFC), one of the largest banks in the U.S. managing $1.7 trillion in assets, has lodged a trademark application for a new platform centered on digital assets called WFUSD, indicating that the bank is advancing further into the realms of crypto and blockchain.

As per a Tuesday submission to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), WFUSD aims to provide services like “cryptocurrency payments processing,” “executing trades of digital assets,” and “services featuring software for asset tokenization,” among other offerings.

This initiative parallels JPMorgan’s previous trademark application related to digital assets for “JPMD,” which anticipated the introduction of a permissioned USD deposit token of the same name on Base, the Ethereum-based layer-2 network.

In the context of Wells Fargo, the “WFUSD” trademark may suggest that the offering will be a tokenized deposit or stablecoin.

The bank did not respond to requests for comments by the time of publication.

The institution’s filing arises as traditional financial entities and global banks increasingly adopt digital assets, investigating tokenized assets and stablecoins. Last May, the Wall Street Journal reported that several U.S. banks, including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and Citigroup (C), engaged in early discussions to potentially launch a stablecoin together.

Importantly, Wells Fargo announced plans in 2019 to test an internal settlement service named Wells Fargo Digital Cash, which operates on the bank’s proprietary distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform.