UBS (UBS), which has $6.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM), plans to start allowing some retail customers to buy Bitcoin and Ether, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the story, the decision to start offering cryptocurrency services stems from growing demand from high-net-worth customers.
“As part of UBS’s digital asset strategy, we actively monitor developments and seek initiatives that reflect customer needs, regulatory developments, market trends and robust risk management,” a UBS spokesperson told CoinDesk. “We recognize the importance of distributed ledger technologies like blockchain to power digital assets.”
UBS has previously taken a cautious approach to cryptocurrencies, but it may now be feeling pressure from Wall Street rivals such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley. Both companies are expanding financial services, including digital assets, within Washington, D.C.’s friendlier regulatory regime.
In November 2023, UBS made trading in crypto-linked ETFs available to wealthy clients in Hong Kong, joining competitors such as HSBC Holdings. Late last year, UBS completed its first on-chain redemption of tokenized funds using Chainlink’s digital transfer agent. UBS has also teamed up with cryptocurrency banking specialist Signum and Postfinance, a subsidiary of state-run Swiss Post, to test inter-institutional payments in Ethereum.
