TL;DR
- UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said the bank is exploring crypto access for clients and building tokenized asset infrastructure, including tokenized deposits for corporates.
- He outlined a three to five year “fast follower” rollout focused on core rails and specific use cases, not being first in blockchain adoption.
- UBS reported FY25 net profit up 53% to $7.8 billion and invested assets above $7 trillion, backing the multi-year plan strategy.
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti says the bank is exploring direct crypto market access for private clients, positioning the initiative as a disciplined extension of its wealth business. UBS is signaling cautious expansion into crypto while keeping wealth management at the center of the story. He confirmed the exploratory move on a Wednesday earnings call, after an early January Bloomberg report said UBS had been selecting partners for a potential crypto trading offering. Ermotti added that the effort sits within a broader plan to build tokenized asset infrastructure over multiple years. The timetable is not immediate.
A “fast follower” playbook for tokenized finance
Ermotti framed UBS’s tokenization roadmap as deliberate and use case driven, with a three to five year timeline intended to run alongside existing wealth management and corporate banking services. The bank is prioritizing infrastructure and practical deployments over being first to market. On the call, he said UBS is building out core rails and exploring targeted offerings, ranging from crypto access for individual clients to tokenized deposit solutions for corporates. He described UBS as a “fast follower,” focusing on readiness, controls, and scalable execution. That posture ties product decisions to client demand and governance.
The digital asset buildout is unfolding as UBS reports significant capital growth in its FY25 results. Stronger profitability is giving UBS more room to invest while maintaining a measured stance. The bank said full year net profit rose 53% to $7.8 billion, and net profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31 climbed 56% year over year to $1.2 billion. Invested assets increased 15% year over year and surpassed $7 trillion for the first time, reinforcing the scale of its private banking platform and its ability to fund multi-year infrastructure work at pace.
UBS’s positioning also contrasts with its earlier public skepticism toward cryptocurrencies and its preference for tokenization before spot crypto trading. UBS is attempting to align past caution with a regulated, product-led digital strategy. In 2017, senior officials including chief economist Paul Donovan criticized bitcoin and questioned its role as money and store of value. Since then, UBS has backed tokenization work, including a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum and blockchain pilots for fund issuance and settlement, and it allowed wealthy clients in Hong Kong in 2023 to trade crypto futures-based ETFs.
