Crypto treasury executives are calling on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) to revise the punitive 1,250% risk weight assigned to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under the international Basel III banking framework. This capital requirement, finalized in 2024 based on a 2021 proposal, mandates that banks must back any Bitcoin holdings on their balance sheets with an equivalent amount of approved capital, a 1:1 ratio.
This makes holding Bitcoin significantly more expensive for banks than other asset classes. For comparison, cash, physical gold, and government debt like U.S. Treasuries carry a 0% risk weight, while public equity is weighted at 250-300%.
Industry leaders argue this regulation acts as a major barrier to institutional crypto adoption. "If the US wants to be the 'crypto capital' of the world, the banking regulations need to change. Risk is mispriced," stated Jeff Walton, Chief Risk Officer at Bitcoin treasury company Strive. Phong Le, CEO of the largest Bitcoin treasury company, Strategy, echoed this, tying the global Basel rules directly to U.S. competitiveness.
The high capital charge discourages banks from holding digital assets as it lowers their return on equity, a key profitability metric. Chris Perkins, President of CoinFund, described the rules as a "very nuanced way of suppressing activity by making it so expensive for the bank to do those activities," calling it a different type of chokepoint than overt debanking.
There are signs of potential change. In October 2025, reports indicated the BCBS was considering easing these requirements, partly in response to the stablecoin market cap nearing $300 billion. The following month, BCBS Chair Erik Thedéen signaled a potential shift, saying the regulator may need a "different approach" to the 1,250% weight.
