Looking at why Wells Fargo shifted from Bitcoin ETFs to Ethereum ETFs in early 2026

Wells Fargo, a global financial services firm based in the United States, has increased its Ethereum [ETH] ETF holdings. In the first quarter of 2026, Wells Fargo switched its holdings from Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs to ETH ETFs.

Wells Fargo embraces Ethereum

According to the company’s 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Wells Fargo increased its investments in the Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) and BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA).

To be more precise, its holdings of ETHW increased 37% to 257,000 shares, while its position in ETHA increased 63.5% from roughly 672,600 shares in Q4 2025 to roughly 1.1 million shares.

Price action explains the shift 

This occurred during a period of troubling price movement for Ethereum, which was trading at about $2966 at the start of 2026 and then fell to $2023 by the end of Q1 2026.

At press time, too, ETH was trading at $2,251.25 after a drop of 2.33% in the last 24 hours.  

However, the shift from Bitcoin to Ethereum appears understandable when contrasted with the price of Bitcoin. The leading cryptocurrency’s price was $87,000 when Q1 started, with the same falling to $66,000 by 31 March 2026.

ETF inflow and outflow charts shed more light

In the first quarter of 2026, Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $8.02 billion, but outflows climbed to $8.52 billion. At the same time, Ethereum ETFs saw $2.03 billion in inflows and only $2.79 billion in outflows. 

Unlike Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan recently disclosed in a Form F13 filing that it had invested $731,246 in a Spot Bitcoin ETF on behalf of its customers. 

Along with Bitwise’s BITB, Fidelity’s FBTC, and Grayscale’s GBTC, J.P. Morgan invested $477,425 in BlackRock’s IBIT.

Final Summary 

• Wells Fargo reshuffled its ETF holdings and has now increased its investments in Bitwise’s ETHW and BlackRock’s ETHA.
• Price action of both Ethereum and Bitcoin in Q1 2026 explains the shift from Bitcoin to Ethereum.