Wells Fargo plans to launch tokenized deposits for select corporate and commercial clients later this year, beginning with U.S. dollar-to-British pound transactions. The move puts the bank alongside JPMorgan and Citi in the push to modernize institutional payment and settlement rails with blockchain-based bank money.
Wells Fargo plans to launch tokenized deposits for select corporate and commercial clients later this year, beginning with U.S. dollar-to-British pound transactions. The move puts the bank alongside JPMorgan and Citi in the push to modernize institutional payment and settlement rails with blockchain-based bank money.
The development matters because major banks are trying to bring some of blockchain’s settlement features into conventional finance without turning deposits into public crypto assets. Wells Fargo says the tokenized deposits will remain commercial bank money and carry the same regulatory protections and deposit-insurance eligibility as its existing deposit products.
Wells Fargo will offer tokenized deposits to select corporate and commercial clients later this year, starting with round-the-clock U.S. dollar-to-British pound transactions on the bank’s proprietary blockchain. The system is designed to route eligible payments through tokenized deposits automatically when that can improve speed or flexibility, while keeping clients inside the bank’s existing interface.
The development matters because major banks are trying to bring some of blockchain’s settlement features into conventional finance without turning deposits into public crypto assets. Wells Fargo says the tokenized deposits will remain commercial bank money and carry the same regulatory protections and deposit-insurance eligibility as its existing deposit products.
When fully deployed, the bank says the platform is expected to support 24/7/365 settlement, programmable payments and the ability to move funds with greater flexibility. Wells Fargo plans to expand the rollout to more clients, countries and currencies throughout 2027.
The bank also expects future features to include conditional payments using smart contracts. According to the report, the platform could support in-house custodial wallets and links to other blockchains, and Wells Fargo has said it can integrate with a shared tokenized-deposit network being developed by The Clearing House.
Wells Fargo is joining a field already occupied by JPMorgan and Citi, which operate institutional tokenized-deposit services. The effort follows earlier blockchain payment work by Wells Fargo, including its 2019 Wells Fargo Digital Cash initiative for internal cross-border transfers and later blockchain-based foreign-exchange settlement activity with HSBC.
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