The top banks in the world hold crypto assets worth around $9 billion, according to a Basel Committee report.
Nineteen of the largest financial institutions in the world were a part of the study. Seven of the banks were from Europe, 10 were from the Americas and two were from the rest of the world.
The 19 banks that put in their data have a 0.14% exposure to cryptocurrency. If worldwide standards were to be applied, the exposure of banks stands at a measly 0.01%.
However, the research did point out that “as the crypto market is fast evolving, it is difficult to ascertain whether some banks have under- or over-reported their exposures.”
Bulk of Investments In Bitcoin, Ethereum
The Basel Committee found that Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD, or assets based on these two currencies, account for the bulk of exposure.
Ethereum represented 22% of the total exposure, while Bitcoin represented 31%.
Other assets based on Bitcoin and Ethereum account for 25% and 10% exposure, respectively.
Exposure to other cryptos include Litecoin LTC/USD, 0.4%; Stellar XLM/USD, 0.4%; Cardano ADA/USD, 1%; Polkadot DOT/USD, 2% and Ripple XRP/USD, 2%.
The banks also disclosed a small quantity of tokenized assets and stablecoins, such as USD Coin.
The data is heavily influenced by the services that banks provide, such as market making, clearing and custody.
The study showed a small number of institutions owned the majority of the assets, and as a result, warned the conclusions could not reflect reality very accurately.
How Far Are Financial Behemoths From Cryptos?
While it seems major financial institutions have invested a bare minimum in cryptocurrencies, digital assets are in their nascent phase, with the world’s largest digital currency Bitcoin debuting just over a decade ago.
With a seemingly long road ahead, institutions have plenty of time to own a sizeable chunk of cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, major banks considering investments in cryptocurrencies make the industry look promising.
Currently, the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is $980 billion, down 0.3% from the previous day.
Photo: Andrew Derr via Shutterstock
