Swiss Bank UBS Considers Offering Crypto Access to Individual Clients

Highlights:

• UBS is building infrastructure to offer cryptocurrency services for private and corporate clients
• CEO Ermotti says the bank will move carefully, not rushing into digital assets.
• UBS plans a gradual rollout over three to five years, following a fast-follower strategy.

UBS Group AG, the Swiss banking giant managing more than $7 trillion in client assets, is preparing to step further into the digital finance arena. The lender’s chief executive, Sergio Ermotti, confirmed during an earnings call on Wednesday that the bank is developing systems to support cryptocurrency services. He emphasized that UBS will not rush into the sector but will instead move carefully.

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UBS Advances Digital-Asset Services with Cautious Expansion

Ermotti explained that UBS is working on infrastructure to manage crypto transactions and is considering services for both individual and corporate clients. “We are building out the core infrastructure and exploring targeted offerings from crypto access for individual clients to tokenized deposit solutions for corporates,” he told investors.

The bank’s leadership has described its approach as measured. UBS intends to follow a strategy of being a “fast follower” in blockchain-related assets rather than an early mover. The rollout is expected to take place gradually over the next three to five years.

JUST IN: $7 trillion UBS Group CEO Sergio Ermotti said the bank is considering offering access to crypto for individual clients. pic.twitter.com/NzWgSSHUlT

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) February 4, 2026

Bloomberg News reported in January that UBS has already started selecting partners to help launch crypto trading for wealthy clients. This marks a significant shift for the Zurich-based institution, which until recently had been cautious about digital coins. In 2017, senior officials, including global chief economist Paul Donovan, criticized Bitcoin and questioned its use as money or a store of value. 

After that, the bank focused on tokenization and blockchain infrastructure instead of trading crypto directly. This approach included a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum and blockchain tests for fund issuance and settlement. UBS said the tokenized fund lets investors access “high-quality money market instruments with a conservative, risk-managed framework.” UBS let some wealthy clients in Hong Kong trade crypto futures ETFs. This allowed them to invest without owning digital coins directly.

Other Banks Move into Crypto Services

Other European banks are moving faster than UBS in digital assets. Earlier this week, ING Deutschland, one of Germany’s largest retail banks, announced it will offer clients cryptocurrency-linked exchange-traded notes and products. These allow customers to invest in Bitcoin and other crypto directly through their existing securities accounts.

The largest retail brokerage in Germany

Has rolled out access to @Bitwise_Europe crypto ETPS!https://t.co/XDzw7PzBDH pic.twitter.com/IiwrZgykMN

— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) February 2, 2026

Another bank, DZ Bank, has also received MiCAR approval and is planning to launch its ‘meinKrypto’ platform in all cooperative banks. Through this, users will be able to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin as well as other virtual currencies in their mobile banking apps. DZ Bank has also joined a consortium that is creating a regulated euro stablecoin.

Meanwhile, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe aims to provide Bitcoin and crypto trading to private customers by the summer of 2026, with technical support coming from DekaBank. This indicates that the financial institution is shifting from its earlier cautious approach to the adoption of digital assets, which is now being embraced by traditional financial lenders. In addition, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered shared their plans to develop their crypto trading and prime brokerage businesses.

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