- Switzerland’s largest bank UBS is exploring methods to offer crypto and digital currency services to rich clients.
- One of the possible methods is third-party investment vehicles.
- Many major financial institutions and money management firms have already entered the trillion-dollar crypto market.
UBS Group AG, the largest Swiss banking institution and a multinational investment bank, is reportedly exploring to offer crypto and digital currency investment services to its high-net-worth clients. The move comes at a time when major US financial firms are dabbling into the crypto space to meet the client demand.
The giant Swiss bank will consider several options for offering crypto services, one of which includes investing through third-party investment vehicles, knowledgeable sources who declined to be named told BNN Bloomberg. Furthermore, any investment done will be a very small part of the customers’ total wealth due to the infamous volatility present in the market.
“We are monitoring the developments in the field of digital assets closely,” UBS said in a statement. “Importantly, we are most interested in the technology which underpins digital assets, namely the distributed ledger technology.”
The Party Had Already Begun
While the move by UBS to offer crypto investment services is appreciated and welcomed by the crypto community, the firm is not among the firsts to adopt. Many global securities firms alongside financial institutions have already adopted the innovation and started offering crypto services, giving their clients exposure to cryptocurrencies especially Bitcoin.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc, a leading global financial institution, is dabbling into the $1 trillion Bitcoin market by enabling its users to trade with non-deliverable forwards, a derivative linked directly to Bitcoin’s price that pays out in cash. A few days ago, the company revealed that they have “successfully executed” its first bitcoin-linked derivatives trade.
Another major financial service company, Morgan Stanley, had announced its plans to give wealthy clients access to multiple funds that will enable crypto ownership. In addition, Bank of New York Mellon is developing a Digital Assets platform for traditional and digital assets.
Meeting The Increasing Demand
According to the anonymous source, UBS fears that it might lose wealthy clients if it doesn’t offer crypto and digital currency services. Yan Zhao, NYDIG president, previously had said that banks will support bitcoin because they see their customers are sending big money to crypto exchanges.
Mastercard, additionally, revealed in a survey that 68% of customers prefer businesses that allow the latest payment methods. In the same survey, Mastercard pointed out that businesses need to adopt trending payment methods in order to meet consumers’ demands.
