To be or not to be.. in crypto

There are people like UBS Chairman of the Board of Directors Axel Weber who sees crypto payments as a discontinued model, his CEO Ralph Hamers also does not want to offer crypto products. Meanwhile, wealthy people are increasingly relying on Bitcoin or Ether.

The idea of "locating payments from banks and cash to an anonymous vehicle in which both sides of the transactions are not known - this will not survive". This is what UBS Chairman Axel Weber said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Wednesday.

Weber drew comparisons at a time when governments withdrew large-value banknotes from circulation in order to avoid unidentifiable, large transactions. Regulators would not tolerate cryptocurrencies becoming "really large".

On the occasion of the Q3 results, UBS boss Ralph Hamers had stated that the bank would not offer crypto products. The value of digital currencies is difficult to estimate. And it is difficult for the bank to see it as an investment that it wants to offer its customers.

However, a growing number of banks want to expand into the crypto sector. JPMorgan and Bank of America are hiring new employees in the segment. Goldman Sachs has started trading crypto futures. The Asian financial service provider DBS Group, whose boss also participated in the event, will open its digital exchange to private customers next year.

Large investors are hot on cryptocurrencies

UBS's skepticism contrasts with the investment behaviour of a client group that the major Swiss bank is actually targeting. Because more and more large investors and wealthy people are entering cryptocurrencies.

28 percent of the super-rich families around the globe are already invested in Bitcoin, Ether and Co., according to a survey published on Wednesday by the consulting organisation Campden Wealth at 385 family offices. Many expected that the cyber currency, which once struggled with a dubious reputation, would become established assets. 28 percent of those surveyed planned to increase their positions next year.

Bitcoin and Ether have rushed from record to record in recent weeks. Large investors and even pension funds are also increasingly accessing. Many traditional asset managers, such as Swiss private banks, are in the process of building up corresponding offers for their clients. Drivers of demand include the smouldering fear of inflation and the fear of missing something.

According to Campden Wealth, 42 percent of family offices consider cryptocurrencies to be a worthwhile investment. So far, their share of the total assets of families has been only one percent - the same as precious metals. Shares followed by real estate account for the largest piece.

Family offices are considered rather conservative; many of them have the task of preserving the assets entrusted to them. Family offices manage the private assets of their owner families, which according to the survey - mentioned above - amount to an average of 1.1 billion dollars.