This bachelor thesis aims to assess the market potential of crypto assets offered by major financial institutions to their Swiss retail section. The current state of crypto asset offerings is that no large banks have such an offering distributing crypto assets to their retail clientele, even though public awareness of crypto assets and the underlying blockchain technology is growing. With that stated, the objective will be to use this material to analyse retail client demand and the barriers that hinder banks from offering such a product in Switzerland.

I intend to combine current secondary research and surveys with a self-conducted survey to capture the interest and demand of the retail sector, which is interested in and anticipates the prospect of investing in crypto assets through its relationship with banks. Clearly, there are FinTech platforms that already have a crypto asset offering in place. However, this documentation will analyse the possibilities of well-established banks joining that market. Furthermore, expert opinions will be obtained on potential challenges and risks connected with such an offering for major banks.

Risks for banks have been identified through interviews with specialists in the field of crypto investments. Notably, the crypto market is highly volatile and linked with significant risk and can consequently lead to a possible loss for a small retail investment. Because there is no authority behind the various cryptocurrencies, concerns about massive losses will be directed to the bank that made the investment for the ordinary investor. Even if the bank only executed the investor's request, such a complaint will harm a bank's reputation, which is a significant problem for banks. Furthermore, banks must continue to follow their due diligence in relation to the FINMA. Moreover, banks find it difficult to track the movement of cash, and there is a lack of information regarding the sender and recipient of such a transaction. In terms of the self-conducted study, the results show that retail clients have a demand for their bank to provide such an option. However, because of the small sample size, does not reflect the full market potential, further study and analysis are needed to determine the true market potential for supplying crypto assets in the Swiss retail segment.