Wells Fargo Reports Tuesday: Will Its Kraken Crypto Talks…

Wells Fargo will publish third-quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at about 7:00 a.m. ET, and hold its earnings call at 10:00 a.m. ET. The call gives analysts their first scheduled chance to question management since reports said the $2 trillion-plus bank had discussed using Payward, the parent of Kraken, as a liquidity provider for cryptocurrency trading. No agreement has been announced, and neither company has confirmed a deal will be reached.

Wall Street expects year-over-year earnings growth. MarketBeat's Oct. 11 analyst consensus was $1.85 per share on revenue of $22.31 billion. A TradingView estimate dated Oct. 6 projected $1.84 per share and $22.29 billion in revenue. That compares with $1.73 per share and $21.44 billion of revenue a year earlier. The headline figures are not the only issue: investors are also weighing higher Treasury yields, which can lift asset yields but raise funding costs and may dampen borrowing and dealmaking.

What Was Reported

CoinDesk reported on Oct. 7, citing two people familiar with the private discussions, that Wells Fargo was in talks with Payward about supplying liquidity for digital-asset trading. No product, launch date, supported assets, customer segment or commercial terms have been disclosed. Payward Services, the business-to-business arm of Kraken's parent, provides infrastructure to banks, brokerages, exchanges and asset managers seeking exposure to crypto markets without building the full trading stack. Under such a model, Payward could provide pricing, liquidity and execution behind a Wells Fargo customer-facing service, leaving the bank to control the client relationship.

The reported talks follow an existing connection. On Sept. 10, Nasdaq Ventures agreed to invest $100 million in Payward as the companies expanded work on tokenized equities, market surveillance and always-on financial infrastructure. Wells Fargo was Nasdaq's exclusive capital-markets adviser on that transaction. Payward has also reportedly held separate talks with BNY about a broader relationship covering crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and infrastructure, though no agreement has been confirmed. Reports in September said Payward's U.S. IPO is unlikely before the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest.

On the earnings call, analysts may ask whether Wells Fargo is evaluating Payward or another outside provider for crypto liquidity and execution. They could also probe which customers would be targeted, such as wealth-management clients, institutions or retail banking customers, and whether crypto liquidity would stand alone or form part of a wider digital-asset strategy including tokenized securities, stablecoins, custody and payments. Management may decline to discuss private negotiations, so no outcome should be assumed.