Wells Fargo Files ‘WFUSD’ Trademark, Signaling a Push Beyond Internal Blockchain Experiments
Wells Fargo & Company, one of the four largest banks in the United States by assets, filed a trademark application on March 9 for the name “WFUSD” with the USPTO, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the federal agency responsible for intellectual property registration.
The filing covers digital asset services spanning three international trademark classes: software for cryptocurrency and digital asset management, financial services including crypto exchange and blockchain-based settlement, and technology services including tokenization platforms and distributed ledger infrastructure.
The application appeared in USPTO’s public records Wednesday. The name itself does significant signalling work. WFUSD follows the naming convention of the two dominant stablecoins, dollar-pegged digital tokens, in the market: Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
A Wells Fargo stablecoin using the same convention would create a branded product identity distinct from both crypto-native issuers and JPMorgan’s JPM Coin, which operates as a closed-loop settlement tool within JPMorgan’s own network rather than a publicly circulating asset.
Not Wells Fargo’s First Blockchain Move
Wells Fargo is not new to tokenized dollars. In 2019, the bank launched Wells Fargo Digital Cash, a settlement tool built on R3’s Corda Enterprise blockchain for internal cross-border payments between its own branches, closed by design, never intended for customers.
It invested $5 million in blockchain analytics firm Elliptic in 2020 and participated in a $105 million funding round for crypto trading infrastructure firm Talos in 2022. In March 2025, its investment institute published a report classifying digital assets as a viable portfolio option. The WFUSD filing is the first move that points toward a public-facing product.
The Consortium Question
The filing arrives against a specific backdrop. In May 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo were in early-stage discussions to develop a joint stablecoin through two companies they co-own: Early Warning Services, the operator of the peer-to-peer payment app Zelle, and The Clearing House, which runs real-time interbank payment infrastructure.
The talks were contingent on federal stablecoin legislation. That legislation, the GENIUS Act, which established a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance by national banks, was signed into law in July 2025.
WFUSD raises a question the WSJ reporting left open: whether Wells Fargo intends to join the consortium, go it alone, or both. The Zelle precedent is instructive, the banks share underlying payment rails but each presents its own branded interface to customers. WFUSD could follow the same model: a Wells Fargo-branded stablecoin running on jointly developed infrastructure.
No party has confirmed any definitive plans.
Where the Market Stands
The timing reflects broader acceleration in bank-led stablecoin activity. Fidelity Digital Assets launched the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), a fully collateralised stablecoin on Ethereum, earlier this year. Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan said in early 2025 that the bank was ready to launch a dollar-backed stablecoin pending regulation.
Total stablecoin circulating supply now stands at approximately $314.7 billion, up more than 50% from around $205 billion at the start of 2025, according to DeFiLlama, a market dominated entirely by non-bank issuers.
