Basel Banking Standards Vs Bitcoin: Strategy CEO Blasts 1,250% Risk Weight
Strategy CEO Phong Le is calling for a rethink of how banks are required to capital-charge bitcoin exposure under Basel-style rules, arguing that current risk-weighting treatment materially shapes whether regulated institutions can engage with digital assets at all. The catalyst was a chart shared on X that labels bitcoin “unsecured crypto exposure” with a “typical risk weight” of 1,250% under an “Illustrative Basel III-Style” standardized approach, alongside 0% weights for cash, physical gold, and US Treasuries. A Capital Penalty For Bank Bitcoin Exposure Le framed the issue as structural rather than political, pointing to the way global capital rules flow into national bank regulation. “The Basel Accords set global bank capital standards and risk-weighting rules for assets. These frameworks materially shape how banks engage with digital assets, including bitcoin,” he wrote. “They are developed by the Basel Committee of central banks and regulators across 28 jurisdictions — the U...