In January 2026, UBS officially opened direct trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum to select private banking clients in Switzerland.

The world’s largest wealth management firm, which oversees over $4.7 trillion in assets, has historically maintained a conservative stance toward cryptocurrency. In late 2021, when Bitcoin reached an all-time high, former chairman Axel Weber publicly stated, “Anonymous payments will not survive.”

The driving force behind this shift comes from customer demand and competitive pressure. Morgan Stanley has opened access to crypto funds for all wealth management clients by the end of 2025, no longer limiting it to high-risk-tolerance clients with assets above $1.5 million. JPMorgan allows certain clients to use…