UBS (UBS), with $6.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM), plans to start allowing some private clients to buy bitcoin and ether, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The decision to start offering crypto services, according to the article, stems from growing demand from its wealthy clients.
“As part of UBS’s digital assets strategy, we are actively monitoring developments and exploring initiatives that reflect client needs, regulatory developments, market trends and robust risk controls,” a UBS spokesperson told CoinDesk. “We recognize the importance of distributed ledger technology like blockchain, which underpins digital assets.”
UBS had previously taken a cautious approach to cryptocurrencies, but may now feel pressure from Wall Street rivals such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, which have expanded their financial services to include digital assets under Washington, D.C.’s more favorable regulatory regime.
In November 2023, UBS made trading in cryptocurrency-linked ETFs available to high-net-worth clients in Hong Kong, joining rivals like HSBC Holdings Plc. Late last year, UBS completed the first on-chain redemption of a tokenized fund using Chainlink’s digital transfer agent. And in collaboration with crypto-banking specialist Sygnum and PostFinance, a subsidiary of the Swiss public post office, UBS tested payments between institutions on Ethereum.
