Bloomberg Launches Crypto Basel Solution

Bloomberg says that its Crypto Exposure Analytics suite now supports customers in assessing their compliance with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s (Basel) prudential standards for banks’ exposure to crypto assets and tokenised real-world assets.

The firm says the solution incorporates data-driven classifications that enable clients to reliably identify and quantify crypto asset exposure in line with the Basel framework across risk, compliance, and reporting workflows, without having to stitch together multiple datasets. This means, Bloomberg says, clients can bridge the gap between exposure detection and Basel-aligned classification and reporting.

As regulators begin implementing the Basel framework for crypto assets, Bloomberg says firms are facing growing pressure to consistently identify and classify crypto-related exposure across four categories: Group 1a, Group 1b, Group 2a, and Group 2b. A key challenge is that crypto exposure is often embedded within traditional instruments – including ETFs, mutual funds, equities, derivatives, and corporate bonds – rather than limited only to direct spot crypto holdings.

The Crypto Exposure Analytics suite has identified approximately 1,700 funds with potential relevance under the framework, Bloomberg says, adding that roughly half are funds where crypto exposure is not explicitly part of the stated investment strategy, underscoring the increasing need for scalable, transparent exposure classification and accurate exposure mapping to support capital treatment and regulatory reporting.

Bloomberg says it applies a multi-layered quality and governance approach to maintain its Crypto Exposure Analytics, including the new Basel classifications. Classifications are derived through a consistent rules-based process using Bloomberg reference data, securities coverage, fund holdings and company financial disclosures, and are reviewed regularly to account for market and regulatory developments. Each classification includes explainability fields that allow clients to review, validate and challenge results as part of their internal audit and governance processes.

“For Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg’s Crypto Exposure Analytics provides an important differentiator, enabling us to not only identify crypto asset exposure through a robust look-through across funds and ETPs, but also classify our exposures in line with the BCBS prudential framework,” says Steven Davis, global head of equity and listed derivative product reference data at Morgan Stanley. “The solution provides the exact transparency and classification capabilities needed to support regulatory compliance, risk oversight and disclosure under the framework, while also helping our institutional securities and wealth management divisions more efficiently identify crypto-related products for clients.”

Zane Van Dusen, global head of risk & investment analytics products at Bloomberg, adds, “For most firms, identifying their exposure to crypto assets is harder than it sounds. Crypto exposure can hide beneath layers of fund holdings, derivatives, and corporate balance sheets, making it difficult to identify and monitor consistently at scale. Many teams initially managed this through manually maintained watchlists and spreadsheets, but that approach is starting to crack as firms work to comply with new regulatory frameworks and prepare for the scrutiny that will follow.”