Disorganized traditional finance – Little by little, the financial sector is led to position itself on cryptocurrencies. There are those who approve them and who announce it to their shareholders, like the giant BlackRock. There are others who will ostensibly refuse to take part in this “casino”. The Swissfamous for his banking sector, is thus in the image of the rest of the world: divided on the subject. Incumbent banks refuse to expose their customers to its assets deemed too much “speculative”when others take the crypto turn with enthusiasm. Let’s go to Zurich, on the shores of the eponymous lake, to discover the group Julius Baer which belongs to the second category!
Swiss Wealth Manager Switches to Cryptocurrency
A few figures on the Julius Baer group before getting to the heart of the matter. It’s a wealth manager based in Zurich for 135 years and present in 25 countries. He has – according to his figures – more than 400 billion euros in assets under management. In addition, it is positioned in the world’s Top 15 private banks. At its head is currently Philip Rickenbacher.
In the course of last week, he made a presentation of the bank’s strategies for investors. The cryptocurrencies were at the heart of the concerns. The CEO recalled that the bank had already taken a stake in SEBA Crypto AG in 2019. Indeed, it was already “convinced” that digital assets would become “a sustainable and legitimate asset class in an investor’s portfolio”. For information, SEBA Crypto is one of the two crypto platforms regulated in Switzerland.
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Bitcoin and cryptos are dividing the banking sector
Philipp Rickenbacher therefore announced that his group wanted to place itself at the intersection “digital assets and the fiat world”. To do this, they will therefore develop, for their customers, projects advice, investment and trading around cryptocurrencies. They are even considering, in the medium term, a crypto wallet and projects around the blockchain. There is even talk of exploring the Challenge.
To justify this acceleration in the strategy, the CEO speaks of“a defining moment for the sector » :
“Right now we may be witnessing the bursting of the cryptocurrency industry bubble. And we all know what happened after the dot.com bubble burst 30 years ago. This paved the way for the emergence of a new sector, which has truly transformed our lives. I think digital assets and decentralized finance have the same potential. »
These words contrast with the official position of other prestigious establishments such as UBS – the first private bank in the world. Far from being so positive, its CEO, ralph hamerssaid last year that his company “would not offer its clients the ability to invest or trade in cryptocurrency, as these are untested and speculative assets” and that they “do not advise speculation”. In this he joins JP Morgan Chase which is waiting, for its part, for an evolution of the regulation to get started.
In the financial and banking sector, there are currently 2 rooms, 2 atmospheres. On the one hand, we decided to ride the crypto wave and embrace the future of money in joy and good humor. On the other hand, we procrastinate and cast shame on an entire sector to ” protect “ consumers and especially its pre square. We, of course, made our choice. And you?
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