UBS is currently doing an internal review of its brokerage service and has launched a pilot scheme for its premium clients.
Swiss financial giant UBS is making a big move in the crypto industry. Reports suggest that its prime brokerage service has started offering clearing and settlement of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) to a limited number of clients.
Two people familiar with the matter further added that UBS is already operating a pilot scheme. The matter currently is under an internal review process by the financial giant. UBS is not the first player to initiate these services. Wall Street giants Bank of America and Goldman Sachs have also jumped into this game. These two banking giants offer hedge fund clients clearing and settlement of crypto ETPs.
The traditional banking institutions are getting closer to the crypto world seeing a huge opportunity ahead. Thus, they are now willing to tap this massive revenue stream in front of them. UBS has been already working to offer crypto services to its clients for a while. Back in May 2021, the banking giant noted:
“We are monitoring the developments in the field of digital assets closely. Importantly, we are most interested in the technology which underpins digital assets, namely the distributed ledger technology.”
UBS Concerns Over Regulatory Crackdown on Crypto
Much recently, UBS also raised its concerns over the regulatory crackdown in the crypto market. Thus, it also asked its client to maintain caution while investing in this volatile asset class. In its report, the banking giant noted:
“Regulators have demonstrated they can and will crack down on crypto. We suggest investors stay clear and build their portfolio around less risky assets.”
The warning came amid reports that UBS was exploring ways to offer crypto services to wealthier clients. But this hasn’t prevented some big clients from getting into action and joining the crypto market. Previously, UBS noted that it was more interested in blockchain technology underpinning digital assets.
These are just the initial developments and we would like to hear more from the banking giant. But this suggests a growing demand for digital assets among some of the world’s top financial institutions.
In another recent development, banking giant Goldman Sachs recently filed for a DeFi ETF with the US SEC. The growing interest of institutional players in DeFi is pushing Wall Street giants to join the crypto bandwagon.
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