UBS (UBS), which has $6.6 trillion in property beneath administration (AUM), plans to begin permitting some retail prospects to purchase Bitcoin and Ether, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing folks acquainted with the matter.
In keeping with the story, the choice to begin providing cryptocurrency providers stems from rising demand from high-net-worth prospects.
“As a part of UBS’s digital asset technique, we actively monitor developments and search initiatives that mirror buyer wants, regulatory developments, market developments and strong threat administration,” a UBS spokesperson advised CoinDesk. “We acknowledge the significance of distributed ledger applied sciences like blockchain to energy digital property.”
UBS has beforehand taken a cautious strategy to cryptocurrencies, however it could now be feeling strain from Wall Avenue rivals corresponding to JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley. Each corporations are increasing monetary providers, together with digital property, inside Washington, D.C.’s friendlier regulatory regime.
In November 2023, UBS made buying and selling in crypto-linked ETFs obtainable to rich shoppers in Hong Kong, becoming a member of opponents corresponding to HSBC Holdings. Late final 12 months, UBS accomplished its first on-chain redemption of tokenized funds utilizing Chainlink’s digital switch agent. UBS has additionally teamed up with cryptocurrency banking specialist Signum and Postfinance, a subsidiary of state-run Swiss Submit, to check inter-institutional funds in Ethereum.
