An international committee of banking supervisory authorities that develops global regulatory standards for banks, headquartered at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. The BCBS is composed of 45 members representing central banks and regulatory bodies from 28 jurisdictions and is best known for the Basel Accords (Basel I, II, and III), which establish minimum capital requirements, leverage ratios, and liquidity standards for banks worldwide. In the cryptocurrency space, the BCBS has issued frameworks recommending differentiated capital requirements for bank exposures to various classes of crypto assets, including stablecoins and unbacked tokens such as Bitcoin.
Example
“Under the BCBS framework, banks holding unbacked cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin must apply a 1,250% risk weight, effectively requiring dollar-for-dollar capital backing for those positions.”