Julius Baer, one of the five largest banks in Switzerland, increased its adjusted net income by 34% in the first half-year. One of the drivers for improving the situation could be the offer of services for the trade and custodian storage of digital assets.
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In January-June, the bank's net profit amounted to CHF 524 million ($555 million). At the same time, the volume of assets under management due to the strengthening of the Swiss franc decreased by 6% to CHF 402 billion ($425.9 billion).
The increase in net profit was due to the increased trading activity of customers due to a jump in market volatility in the foreign exchange, derivatives, and precious metals markets. Income from trading financial instruments with fair value revaluation jumped 71% to CHF 515 million ($545.6 million).
Net fee and commission income rose 8% to CHF 1.033 billion ($1.094 billion). This group includes received brokerage commissions, income from the issue of securities, management fees, and consulting services. Revenues from custodial services of digital assets that were not allocated in a separate article may also fall into this category.
Julius Baer offered its customers the opportunity to store and trade cryptocurrencies in January this year. The partner was the bank startup SEBA Crypto AG, licensed by FINMA.
The largest bank in Switzerland with a focus on affluent customers could benefit from increased cryptocurrency volatility at the time of the crypto market crash and in the following weeks. From a minimum of $3850 (BITSTAMP exchange), bitcoin has grown by almost 2.4 times to date to $9170.