Wells Fargo boosted Ether ETFs in Q1 as Bitcoin ETF exposure shifted unevenly
The bank’s 13F also shows a near-exit from Galaxy Digital and a 125% jump in Strategy shares.
Wells Fargo’s Q1 2026 Form 13F shows a rotation inside its crypto sleeve, with larger Ether ETF positions despite a two-quarter ETH drawdown. The filing also shows mixed tweaks across Bitcoin ETFs, a sharp cut to Galaxy Digital equity exposure, and a materially larger Strategy stake.
Key Takeaways
- Wells Fargo increased its Ether ETF holdings quarter-over-quarter, with ETHA up 63.5% to roughly 1.1 million shares and ETHW up 37% to more than 257,000 shares.
- Bitcoin ETF positioning shifted unevenly: IBIT was slightly reduced while BITB and Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) rose by roughly 24% and 41%.
- Ether ETF exposure totaled about $21.5 million at quarter-end, while Bitcoin ETFs remained the dominant sleeve with IBIT around $250 million.
- In crypto-linked equities, Galaxy Digital was cut from about 2.5 million shares to roughly 78,600 shares as Strategy rose from about 322,700 shares to roughly 726,000.
Wells Fargo’s Q1 13F: Bigger ETH ETF stake, uneven BTC ETF reshuffle
Wells Fargo’s Q1 2026 SEC Form 13F showed the bank leaning further into Ether-linked ETFs while making a more selective set of changes across Bitcoin ETF products. A 13F is a quarterly SEC disclosure that lists certain U.S.-listed equity and ETF holdings as of the quarter-end, so it captures positioning rather than intraperiod trading.
On the Ether side, the bank reported larger positions in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) and Bitwise’s Ethereum ETF (ETHW), both designed to track Ether’s price. The timing stands out because the quarter coincided with a two-quarter ETH drawdown and sustained spot Ether ETF outflows, which makes the adds read more like a quarter-end allocation choice than a momentum chase.
Bitcoin exposure remained the core of the crypto ETF sleeve, but the filing showed dispersion across products. IBIT (BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF) was slightly reduced, while BITB (Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust) and Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (ticker shown as BTC) increased.
The exact deltas: ETHA/ETHW share jumps, IBIT still the bulk exposure
Wells Fargo’s ETHA position rose 63.5% quarter-over-quarter, from about 672,600 shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 1.1 million shares in Q1 2026. ETHW increased 37%, from about 186,800 shares to more than 257,000 shares.
By reported dollar exposure, Wells Fargo held around $21.5 million in Ether ETFs at Q1 2026 quarter-end, led by ETHA at roughly $17.6 million.
Even after the slight trim, IBIT remained the dominant crypto ETF position by size, at roughly $250 million. The filing described BITB and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) as increasing by roughly 24% and 41%, respectively, but it did not provide the quarter-end share counts or dollar values for those positions in the available details, limiting precision on how large they are relative to IBIT.
Crypto-equity rotation: Galaxy Digital nearly exited as Strategy stake surged
The sharper signal in the filing was in crypto-linked equities.
Wells Fargo cut its Galaxy Digital (GLXY) position from about 2.5 million shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 78,600 shares in Q1 2026, a reduction of nearly 97%. The change was described as an estimated $54.7 million reduction in exposure.
At the same time, the bank increased its stake in Strategy from about 322,700 shares to roughly 726,000 shares, a gain of around 403,000 shares, or 125%. The move was described as an estimated $41.6 million increase in exposure.
Signals to monitor after the quarter-end snapshot
The next 13F cycle is the first real check on whether the ETHA and ETHW increases were a one-quarter rebalance or the start of a more durable Ether allocation. The same applies to Bitcoin ETFs: whether IBIT stays the bulk exposure, or whether the incremental adds to BITB and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) continue.
Flows matter here. CoinGlass data showed Ethereum fell about 28% in Q4 2025 and about 29% in Q1 2026, while spot Ether ETFs saw roughly $769 million in outflows across three straight months. A sustained flip from outflows to inflows would change the read on whether this was early positioning into a regime shift or simply product-level diversification.
In equities, follow-through is straightforward: whether the GLXY position remains near-minimal and whether the enlarged Strategy stake is further increased or trimmed in subsequent filings.
What this 13F says about institutional risk appetite
I treat this as a rotation inside a BTC-led sleeve, not a wholesale risk-on pivot. The ETH ETF adds are notable precisely because they happened alongside two consecutive quarterly ETH declines and a three-month outflow streak in spot Ether ETFs, which makes the move look more like a deliberate allocation decision than a trend-following one.
The threshold that matters is whether the next filing shows Wells Fargo defending the larger ETHA and ETHW positions while keeping IBIT as the anchor. If that holds, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven, with the practical implication being a clearer institutional preference map across BTC beta, ETH beta, and crypto-equity proxies.
