UBS Bank Increases Spot Bitcoin ETF Holdings by 230% to $90M

Switzerland’s largest financial institution, UBS, has elevated its spot Bitcoin ETF holdings by 230% to $90 million, the financial institution introduced Thursday. UBS Group AG has tripled its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Belief, bringing its complete place to roughly $90 million throughout 2.5 million shares. UBS first began its Bitcoin ETF journey with 3,600 shares price lower than $150,000 in early 2024.

“We acknowledge the significance of distributed ledger expertise like blockchain, which underpins digital property,” a spokesperson mentioned.

UBS has additionally been opening entry to IBIT and comparable merchandise for its wealth administration purchasers, which means the financial institution’s personal stability sheet place and its consumer facilitation enterprise are rising in tandem. The financial institution is evaluating cryptocurrency buying and selling for personal banking purchasers in Switzerland, folks aware of the matter mentioned this week. Choose non-public banking purchasers in Switzerland would initially achieve entry to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) buying and selling, with potential growth to Asia-Pacific and U.S. markets. UBS has not made remaining choices on implementation, the unnamed sources add.

Regardless of the decline of crypto previously yr, institutional curiosity within the sector stays excessive. Throughout the institutional panorama, 1,560 separate organizations collectively held IBIT shares price greater than $27 billion in Q1 2026. U.S. cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds have grown quickly since their January 2024 approval. These merchandise now oversee nearly $140 billion in property, led by BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Belief.

Moreover, some hedge funds pulled again on Bitcoin ETF publicity throughout Q1 2026, whereas banks as a gaggle had been rising their positions. At press time, the king cryptocurrency trades at $63,433, down over 40% previously yr. Nevertheless, creating laws globally for crypto, in addition to the rising institutional curiosity, might assist gasoline Bitcoin’s rebound within the latter half of 2026.