Reports say Swiss banking giant UBS is planning to let a small group of its private bank clients buy and sell major cryptocurrencies. The step would open access to Bitcoin and Ethereum for people who have worked with the bank for years, not for every customer.

Private Clients First

According to a Bloomberg report, the service would start in Switzerland and be offered only to select private banking clients, with any wider rollout dependent on rules and demand. The move is careful and measured. It is being tested with a narrow set of clients before any wider push is considered.

How It Would Work

Reports note that UBS has been talking with outside firms about providing the trading, custody and compliance pieces needed to make crypto trading run smoothly.

Partners would likely handle technical tasks while UBS keeps the client relationship front and center. Those talks have been going on for months, and no final deals are said to be done yet.

Wealthy clients have been asking for ways to own digital assets safely. UBS has run pilots on tokenized funds and has worked on blockchain payments before.

The bank’s size and reputation mean it can offer a more cautious path into crypto than many smaller players. At the same time, changes in regulation and the broader market have made the plan more realistic than it might have seemed a few years ago.

Based on reports, the initial offering would focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum. More coins could be added later, but that would depend on which assets meet the bank’s risk and compliance checks.

UBS will reportedly decide what custody model to use and whether it needs third parties for trade execution. No launch date has been set.

Banks from different countries are slowly giving rich clients more ways to touch crypto, but each does it in its own style. Some offer ETFs and funds. Some go further and let clients trade coins directly.

UBS’s cautious design fits a pattern where big banks move slowly, testing the systems before widening access. A handful of recent moves by other institutions show the same pattern.

Reports note that regulators and client interest will help decide how fast this goes. If rules in the US and other places stay friendly and clients respond, the offering could broaden beyond Switzerland.

If not, the bank could keep the plan tightly limited. For now, the idea remains a plan under discussion rather than a product on the market.

UBS’s steps reflect growing demand from wealthy investors for safer ways to hold crypto through trusted firms. The bank’s careful progress shows how traditional finance is testing the waters without rushing in.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

I believe we are entering a pivotal era of convergence in global financial infrastructure. For decades, the correspondent banking system has served as the bedrock of international commerce, providing the necessary trust and regulatory oversight to move trillions of dollars across borders. However, even the most robust systems require modernization to meet the 24/7 demands of today’s digital economy. As I evaluate the landscape in 2026, it is clear that the industry is not moving toward the replacement of traditional banks, but rather a systems phase where legacy strengths are being rewired with digital native speed.

The traditional model of correspondent banking relies on a series of bilateral relationships. A single international wire transfer often passes through multiple intermediary banks. While this structure ensures rigorous compliance and risk management, it inevitably introduces layers of manual reconciliation and settlement windows that are limited by banking hours. This T+3 or T+5 cycle is increasingly being viewed by treasurers as an area where traditional finance and blockchain technology can form a powerful synergy to eliminate capital in transit.

The Efficiency Gap: Solving for Dead Liquidity

The gap between legacy settlement times and modern expectations is no longer just a technical hurdle: it is a measurable economic opportunity. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a next generation financial system based on tokenized ledgers can dramatically improve the integrity and accessibility of money. To understand the scale of this opportunity, one must look at the B2B cross border market, which is projected to grow significantly as digital trade accelerates.

I use the term dead liquidity to describe the capital currently held in the suspense accounts of correspondent networks. According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), progress on global payment speeds remains a priority for the G20. While the target is to have 75% of cross border payments credited within one hour by 2027, the J.P. Morgan 2025 progress review shows that only 33.5% of payments currently reach that target.

In my view, the rise of stablecoins is the market’s response to this need for liquidity mobility. Recent industry reports indicate that B2B stablecoin payment volumes have reached an annualized run rate exceeding 120 billion dollars. This is not a flight away from banking, but a shift toward more efficient rails that banks themselves are beginning to adopt to meet G20 objectives.

The Strategic Importance of Finality Certainty

One of the most significant advantages of this convergence is what I call Finality Certainty. In traditional correspondent banking, the lack of a unified ledger can sometimes lead to opacity during the settlement process. Stablecoins, particularly those governed by the US GENIUS Act framework, provide on chain visibility and near instant settlement finality.

Because these assets are now recognized by federal legislation as regulated payment instruments, they are increasingly being treated as a true cash equivalent. This allows banks to provide their clients with the best of both worlds: the safety and regulatory protection of a traditional financial institution, combined with the atomic settlement speed of a digital rail. For a corporate treasurer, the ability to see a transaction settle in real time on a public or private ledger is a significant upgrade in risk management and treasury forecasting.

The Evolution of the Middleman Economy

The financial burden of legacy infrastructure has historically been a challenge for mid market companies. A typical international transfer can incur various intermediary fees and currency bid ask spreads. For a business moving 10 million dollars monthly across borders, these overheads can be substantial when calculated across an entire fiscal year.

In 2026, I believe we are seeing an evolution of the middleman. Rather than multiple banks passing the baton as in a relay race, we are moving toward a model where banks act as the regulated gateways to a shared digital ledger. Initiatives like Project Agorá, led by the BIS and seven central banks, are exploring how to integrate tokenized commercial bank deposits with wholesale central bank money. This allows the bank to maintain the customer relationship and compliance oversight while using a more efficient settlement layer to move value instantly.

The Strategic Benefits of the Hybrid Model

As I evaluate the competitive landscape for 2026, the benefits of this hybrid approach become undeniable:

• Optimized Working Capital: Instant settlement allows companies to maintain lower cash buffers. I have observed firms reduce their idle cash reserves significantly by switching to real time digital rails that operate 24/7.
• Predictable Transaction Costs: By using a unified ledger, businesses can avoid the deductions often taken by various intermediary banks in a correspondent chain. This transparency is a key pillar of the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross border Payments.
• Continuous Operations: Digital rails do not close for weekends or public holidays. This ensures that global supply chains, which operate around the clock, have a financial system that can keep pace.

Conclusion: Interoperability as the New Standard

I do not believe we will see the total replacement of traditional banks by 2030. Instead, I expect the standard to be programmable treasury, where businesses use traditional rails for local domestic needs but switch to regulated stablecoin rails for international settlement.

This requires a sophisticated bridge: licensed onramp and offramp infrastructure that can handle high volume conversions without compromising compliance. The settlement showdown is not a battle between old and new. It is a collaborative effort to build a more inclusive and efficient global economy. By combining the trust of traditional finance with the efficiency of modern rails, we are finally solving the oldest friction in international trade.

The Settlement Showdown: Why Correspondent Banking and Stablecoins are Converging for Modern Trade was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The digital bank's free HMRC-recognised tax tool is unveiled ahead of Making Tax Digital changes.

The post Monzo Unleashes Tax Tool for UK Small Businesses appeared first on TechRepublic.

The digital bank's free HMRC-recognised tax tool is unveiled ahead of Making Tax Digital changes.

The post Monzo Unleashes Tax Tool for UK Small Businesses appeared first on TechRepublic.

Standard Chartered has pushed its base-case price target for Ethereum to $7,500 by the end of the year, a big jump from an earlier $4,000 projection.

According to the bank’s digital assets team, growing demand from corporate treasury buyers and spot ETH products has driven the change in outlook.

Bank Raises Ethereum Target

The bank’s lead analyst expects fee growth on the Ethereum network and stronger institutional adoption to be key drivers for the move higher.

The bank also revised its longer-term numbers, lifting its 2028 target to $25,000 and laying out scenarios that push toward $40,000 by 2030. These wider targets reflect models where stablecoins and tokenized assets expand on Ethereum’s chain.

Institutional Buying Drives Demand

Data cited by market researchers points to heavy accumulation since June, with spot ETF flows and treasury firms together taking close to 4% of Ether’s circulating supply over that period.

ETHEREUM SEEN OUTPERFORMING BITCOIN

Standard Chartered says Ethereum’s outlook has improved and it is likely to outperform bitcoin. While weak bitcoin performance has weighed on the broader crypto market, rising institutional demand for ethereum and its dominance in stablecoins,…

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) January 13, 2026

Treasury firms alone reportedly bought about 2.3 million ETH in just over two months, a pace that Standard Chartered says outstrips some previous accumulation phases seen in Bitcoin.

Standard Chartered’s note also argues that Ether could outperform Bitcoin, raising the possibility of the ETH/BTC ratio returning toward levels last seen during 2021’s run-up.

Based on the bank’s scenarios, weaker Bitcoin momentum combined with stronger real-world use of Ethereum might lift Ether’s price faster than Bitcoin’s in the months ahead.

Some headlines have pointed to even bigger long-range targets produced by the same models, including forecasts of $30,000 by 2029 and $40,000 by 2030 under more bullish assumptions.

These outcomes rely on a substantial expansion of stablecoin use, tokenized real-world assets, and continued staking demand that would remove supply from the market.

Independent forecasters remain split, and other banks have offered lower year-end projections, offering a reminder that expert views differ.

Meanwhile, market watchers caution, though, that relative moves depend heavily on ETF flows and corporate balance-sheet decisions.

According to the bank, Ethereum’s large share of stablecoin activity and its role in decentralized finance make fee income and on-chain demand a meaningful part of valuation models.

That said, the bank notes that scale improvements and Layer 1 throughput will matter a lot if big, traditional finance transactions migrate onchain.

The research also warns that shifts in macro conditions, outflows from major ETFs, or regulatory setbacks could change the math quickly.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin Magazine

Ahead of Banking Committee Markup, Senate Republicans Release CLARITY Act Fact Sheets

After months of legislative negotiation and industry scrutiny, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is moving toward a critical juncture on Capitol Hill this week as Senate committees align timelines and prepare some key markups that could finally break the deadlock on U.S. crypto regulation. 

The Senate Banking Committee released an amended draft of the CLARITY Act ahead of a scheduled markup and amendment debate, while the Senate Agriculture Committee set its own markup for late January.

Earlier today, Senate Republicans on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee released a series of fact sheets this week detailing the Act. The Senate’s Banking Committee markup is still scheduled for January 15. 

The materials, published ahead of the committee’s markup today, frame the legislation as a comprehensive attempt to bring digital asset markets under a clear federal framework while strengthening investor protections and addressing illicit finance.

Lawmakers backing the bill argue the absence of statutory clarity has pushed activity offshore and left both investors and national security exposed.

Republicans tout consumer protection, security, and clarity in the CLARITY Act

According to the fact sheets, the CLARITY Act would establish enforceable rules distinguishing which digital assets fall under securities law and which qualify as commodities, formally dividing oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

One section emphasizes consumer protection, stating the bill strengthens disclosure requirements, preserves existing anti-fraud authorities, and limits insider abuse. Digital asset issuers subject to the framework would remain bound by resale restrictions and anti-evasion rules, while fraud would continue to be illegal and fully enforceable by regulators. 

Another focus of the legislation is national security and illicit finance. The fact sheets claim the CLARITY Act contains the strongest illicit-finance framework Congress has considered for digital assets to date. 

Under the proposal, centralized intermediaries would be subject to anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations, strengthened sanctions compliance, and enhanced Treasury authority to respond to high-risk foreign activity. 

Lawmakers say the goal is to close regulatory gaps without driving legitimate activity overseas.

The bill also addresses decentralized finance and software development, an area that has drawn concern from crypto developers. According to the committee materials, the legislation explicitly protects software developers who publish or maintain code without controlling customer funds, and preserves the right to self-custody digital assets. 

Regulatory obligations would instead focus on centralized intermediaries that interact with DeFi protocols, requiring tailored risk-management and cybersecurity standards.

 “Code is protected — misconduct is not,” the fact sheet states.

Supporters further argue the CLARITY Act closes loopholes rather than creating them. The bill establishes a joint SEC-CFTC advisory committee to harmonize regulatory requirements and includes provisions designed to prevent regulatory arbitrage or evasion of U.S. rules. By bringing activity onshore, lawmakers say federal oversight would be strengthened rather than diluted.

Republicans on the committee also pushed back against claims that the bill was written to benefit industry.

The materials describe the legislation as the product of years of bipartisan work, regulator engagement, and consultation with law enforcement, with an emphasis on public-interest outcomes rather than industry preferences.

This post Ahead of Banking Committee Markup, Senate Republicans Release CLARITY Act Fact Sheets first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

One in five UK consumers and small businesses actively use these services, creating an ecosystem worth approximately £4.1 billion to the UK economy.

The post UK Open Banking Celebrates 8th Anniversary With 16M Users appeared first on TechRepublic.

One in five UK consumers and small businesses actively use these services, creating an ecosystem worth approximately £4.1 billion to the UK economy.

The post UK Open Banking Celebrates 8th Anniversary With 16M Users appeared first on TechRepublic.

Big U.S. banks are still refusing to do business with the $32 billion legal cannabis industry despite President Donald Trump's Dec. 18 marijuana rescheduling executive order – a position that's annoying the president, according to one report.

Big banks still refusing cannabis despite Trump marijuana rescheduling is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

UK bank has now become a stakeholder in Ubyx, a US startup creating clearing infrastructure for digital currencies.

The post Barclays Enters Stablecoin Space With First-Ever Investment appeared first on TechRepublic.

UK bank has now become a stakeholder in Ubyx, a US startup creating clearing infrastructure for digital currencies.

The post Barclays Enters Stablecoin Space With First-Ever Investment appeared first on TechRepublic.

Republican opposition to President Donald Trump's marijuana rescheduling executive order complicates the picture for future reforms like banking protections.

Republican opposition to Trump marijuana rescheduling could thwart other reforms is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

This move puts Morgan Stanley head-to-head with BlackRock and Fidelity in the exploding crypto ETF arena.

The post Morgan Stanley Files Bitcoin and Solana ETF Applications appeared first on TechRepublic.

This move puts Morgan Stanley head-to-head with BlackRock and Fidelity in the exploding crypto ETF arena.

The post Morgan Stanley Files Bitcoin and Solana ETF Applications appeared first on TechRepublic.

This deal represents one of the few significant exits in African fintech and signals something much bigger.

The post Flutterwave Craves African Open Banking Action With Mono Acquisition appeared first on TechRepublic.

This deal represents one of the few significant exits in African fintech and signals something much bigger.

The post Flutterwave Craves African Open Banking Action With Mono Acquisition appeared first on TechRepublic.

Bitcoin Magazine

JPMorgan Weighs Bitcoin Trading for Institutional Clients

JPMorgan Chase is weighing whether to offer bitcoin trading services to institutional clients, according to a Bloomberg report citing a person familiar with the matter.

The largest U.S. bank by assets is assessing potential products that could include spot bitcoin trading and derivatives within its markets division. The discussions remain preliminary, and no decision has been made to launch the services, the report said.

Any move would depend on several factors, including client demand, internal risk assessments, and whether the bank can structure offerings that fit within existing regulatory frameworks. JPMorgan has not commented publicly on the report.

The internal review reflects growing interest among large investors for access to digital asset markets through established financial institutions. Hedge funds, asset managers, and pension funds increasingly seek trading venues that align with their compliance, governance, and execution requirements. 

Institutional clients often prioritize balance sheet strength, operational resilience, and regulated market access when trading new asset classes. For some firms, those requirements narrow the range of acceptable counterparties, even as liquidity in crypto markets has expanded.

Scott Lucas, who leads digital assets for JPMorgan’s markets division, said in an interview earlier this year that the bank planned to pursue trading activities tied to digital assets but did not intend to provide custody services. That approach would mirror how some banks engage with commodities and other non-traditional assets.

JPMorgan analysts also recently said that bitcoin appears cheap relative to gold after a sharp October sell-off, with strategists pointing to upside potential toward $170,000.

JPMorgan is pivoting on bitcoin

The bank’s interest comes as regulatory conditions in the U.S. begin to shift. Market participants expect progress on federal digital asset legislation, while banking regulators have recently clarified that federally chartered banks may act as intermediaries in certain crypto-related activities. 

JPMorgan has expanded its engagement with blockchain technology over the past several years without embracing cryptocurrencies as a core asset class. The bank has worked on tokenization, on-chain settlement, and distributed ledger infrastructure. 

Earlier this year, it arranged the issuance and settlement of a short-term bond for Galaxy Digital using the Solana network.

The firm has also said it plans to allow institutional clients to use bitcoin and ether as collateral in lending arrangements, a step that acknowledges demand without committing to proprietary exposure.

A move into bitcoin trading would mark a further shift in tone for JPMorgan and its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, who has long criticized bitcoin while maintaining that clients should be free to make their own investment decisions.

JPMorgan would not be alone among global banks reassessing crypto markets. Standard Chartered has launched spot trading for bitcoin and ether through its U.K. operations, while Goldman Sachs continues to operate a crypto derivatives desk. 

This post JPMorgan Weighs Bitcoin Trading for Institutional Clients first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.