Bitcoin, ETH, XRP: Banks' Crypto Holdings Exposed By BCBS

• The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has released a report on banks' involvement in crypto assets.
• 19 banks reported their crypto assets, accounting for 17.1% of total risk-weighted assets and 20.9% of the overall leverage ratio exposure measure.
• The total crypto exposures reported by banks amount to approximately €9.4 billion, representing 0.05% of total exposures on a weighted average basis.
• Bitcoin (BTC) accounts for 31% of the exposures, followed by Ether (ETH) at 22%, and a variety of instruments based on Bitcoin or Ether make up 35% of the exposures.
• The report categorizes banks' crypto activities into three groups: 'Crypto holdings and lending,' 'Clearing client and market-making services,' and 'Custody/wallet/insurance and other services.'
• Custody, wallet, and insurance services account for half of the reported crypto exposures, while clearing and market-making services make up 46%.
• The most significant subcategories in terms of exposure are providing custody and wallet services, trading crypto on client accounts, and facilitating client self-directed trading.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of banks' involvement in crypto assets, shedding light on the extent of their exposures and the dominant preference for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.