Basel Committee Reports Significant Growth In U.S. Banks' Crypto Exposure

According to Odaily, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has released its Basel III monitoring statistics for December 2023, which include data on crypto asset exposure. Although the data predates the launch of a Bitcoin ETF in the United States, it highlights a significant increase in U.S. banks offering crypto services to clients. Notably, American banks have largely exited the cryptocurrency custody sector, primarily due to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) SAB 121 accounting rule, which prohibits banks from providing custody services. However, the incoming Trump administration is likely to completely abandon this rule. In the second half of 2023, assets under custody in Europe grew by 49% compared to the first half, reaching 5.5 billion euros (5.8 billion dollars). Globally, 94% of custody involves spot cryptocurrencies rather than tokenized assets or exchange-traded products (ETPs). In terms of client exposure, the Americas dominate, providing 98% of services. U.S. banks have exposed clients to 190 billion euros (201 billion dollars) in risk. Additionally, U.S. banks have significantly increased their own exposure, nearly quadrupling it, albeit from a small base. By the end of 2023, the prudential risk exposure stood at 531 million euros.