US Banks Are Aggressively Buying Bitcoin: Wells Fargo Invests $383 Million

While retail investors were panic-selling their assets amid recent market fluctuations, major US banks are facilitating increased Bitcoin exposure for their clients. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) highlighted this trend in his post on platform X, quoting a report that Wells Fargo purchased Bitcoin worth $383 million. "While you were panic-selling, US banks were buying BTC," CZ wrote, adding emojis to emphasize the irony of the situation.

This news is based on recent disclosures, according to which Wells Fargo, one of the largest US banks,has enabled clients to significantly increase their Bitcoin investments through ETF funds via advisory accounts.Back in 2025, the bank reported client holdings of $160 million, and now that amount has grown to $383 million, indicating growing confidence from institutional and client players in cryptocurrency. Analysts note that this is part of a broader trend: banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Vanguard are opening channels for distributing Bitcoin ETFs, and the volume of assets in such funds is expected to exceed $180-220 billion in 2026.

Experts, including Cathie Wood from ARK Invest, predict that even the US government may start buying Bitcoin in 2026 due to political changes and market factors. This is happening amid market recovery after the declines of 2025, where Bitcoin is fluctuating in the $130,000-$200,000 range by the end of 2026, according to analysts' forecasts.

Such bank facilitation contrasts with retail investors, who often react to short-term FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt), allowing institutions to buy at lower prices. As one commenter noted under CZ's post:

"Institutions always outplay retail traders."

This trend underscores Bitcoin's transition to an "institutional phase," where major players, including banks, view cryptocurrency as a strategic asset for portfolio diversification. For the crypto community, this is a signal: it might be worth holding rather than selling in panic.