Bloomberg has expanded its Crypto Exposure Analytics service to help banks and asset managers identify and classify crypto-asset and tokenised real-world asset exposures under the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s prudential framework. The update is designed to connect exposure detection with classification and reporting workflows across securities, funds, derivatives and company balance sheets.
The Basel framework splits crypto assets into four categories: Group 1a for tokenised traditional assets that meet required conditions, Group 1b for crypto assets with effective stabilisation mechanisms, Group 2a for non-compliant assets that meet hedging recognition criteria, and Group 2b for other Group 2 exposures. These labels matter because prudential treatment, including capital requirements, can differ significantly by category.
A central challenge is indirect exposure. Banks and investment firms may have crypto risk through exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, derivatives, equities in crypto-related companies or corporate bonds. Bloomberg said its analytics identified roughly 1,700 funds with potential relevance under the Basel framework, with around half not explicitly presenting cryptocurrency exposure as part of their stated strategy. Its stated coverage includes 110 spot tickers and currency pairs, 950 listed futures contracts, 320,000 listed options contracts, 670 index tickers, 600 company tickers, 280 government and corporate bonds and 125,000 fund tickers.
Bloomberg said classifications are produced through a rules-based process using reference data, securities coverage, fund holdings and company financial disclosures, and include explainability fields so clients can validate and challenge results. Steven Davis, Morgan Stanley’s Global Head of Equity and Listed Derivative Product Reference Data, said the service helps the bank identify exposures through look-through analysis and classify them under the BCBS framework. Zane Van Dusen of Bloomberg added that firms have often relied on manually maintained watchlists and spreadsheets to identify crypto risk, an approach that becomes harder as exposure is embedded in more instruments.
The product is available through Data License, with delivery options including SFTP, REST API or cloud environments, and can also be used on Bloomberg Terminal worksheets. The expansion fits Bloomberg’s broader digital-asset roadmap, which includes a pathway for some data license offerings to be accessed on-chain through Kaiko’s infrastructure and a stablecoin dashboard using data from Allium. Banks remain responsible for validating classifications and applying the rules in their own regulatory reporting, so the service addresses the data problem while final compliance interpretation stays with each regulated institution.
