- Wells Fargo filed a trademark application for a cryptocurrency-related name called WFUSD
- The bank previously tested internal blockchain settlement tools and discussed a joint stablecoin with other major financial institutions
- Shares of the company traded lower on the day of the filing despite maintaining a gain over the past year
Wells Fargo has filed a trademark application for “WFUSD,” a name tied to cryptocurrency and stablecoin-related services, according to a March 10 submission to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The filing shows the US banking giant may be considering a dollar-linked digital asset, such as a stablecoin or tokenised deposit. Wells Fargo did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
The application has been accepted by the USPTO but has not yet been assigned to an examining attorney. Trademark reviews typically take more than 10 months on average before reaching a decision.
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Any product tied to WFUSD would likely depend on regulatory clarity and the bank’s strategy for serving institutional or commercial clients.
Banks Expand Digital Asset Experiments
Large financial institutions have been gradually increasing their involvement in blockchain-based payment systems and tokenized financial products. A report from the Wall Street Journal last May said Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup had held early discussions about launching a jointly issued stablecoin.
Wells Fargo has also previously tested blockchain infrastructure internally. In 2019, the bank introduced a pilot program called Wells Fargo Digital Cash, designed as an internal settlement tool running on the company’s distributed ledger technology platform.
A similar trademark strategy was used by JPMorgan last year. The bank filed for “JPMD,” a name that later appeared in connection with a permissioned U.S. dollar deposit token launched on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network developed by Coinbase.
Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) were down about 1.8% on the day, recently trading near US$77.60 (AU$119). The stock has declined around 17.5% since the start of the year but remains more than 14% higher over the past 12 months.
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