In a major boost to digital assets, UBS Group, which has approximately $6.7 trillion in assets under management, is reportedly weighing a move to open cryptocurrency trading to select private banking clients, signaling a potential deepening of its digital asset push as banks worldwide make their moves into crypto.
UBS To Let Select Wealthy Clients Trade Crypto
According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, citing anonymous individuals familiar with the matter, UBS plans to allow select private banking clients in Switzerland trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) first. After that, the bank will consider expanding into the Asia‑Pacific region and the United States later.
The report revealed that UBS was currently selecting partners for its new crypto offering.
Bitcoin was trading at $89,925 after dropping roughly 5.3% over the last week, according to data from CoinGecko. And Ethereum has slipped to $2,956, down 9.7% since last week.
UBS’s decision to introduce crypto services stems from an increasing demand from its wealthy clients. Talks have been ongoing for several months, though UBS has not made a final decision on how or when the offering would be officially launched.
How UBS’s Move Aligns With A Broader Trade Among Global Banks
If it moves ahead with crypto trading, the initiative would mark a huge step for UBS, the world’s largest wealth manager, which has previously taken a measured approach to crypto.
In the past, the bank focused on tokenization rather than spot cryptocurrency trading, including the launch of a tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum network and pilot tests leveraging blockchain infrastructure to streamline fund issuance and settlement.
In November 2023, UBS made trading of crypto futures-based ETFs available to a select group of wealthy clients in Hong Kong, joining rivals like HSBC Holdings Plc in offering exposure without direct ownership of digital assets.
The UBS Group would be following its Wall Street competitors, including JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, which have incorporated crypto trading and prime brokerage services for their customers amid a more friendly regulatory regime in Donald Trump’s White House.
Even Vanguard, long one of Wall Street’s most prominent crypto detractors, was one of the latest to fold when it reversed its previous anti-crypto stance in December 2025 and granted its large customer base access to spot crypto ETFs.
