The complexity of the cryptocurrency situation for banks lies in the different ideology of digital assets. The fact is that popular blockchain-based coins are decentralised, meaning no one can interfere with what goes on inside them. This applies to officials, judges, bankers, presidents and other government officials.

Banks, on the other hand, work differently. They control what happens to users’ money and, if necessary, can freeze it or at least put limits on withdrawals. Consequently, people’s money in banks does not technically belong to them – instead the bank owns it until the withdrawal request is approved.


In addition, in the early days of cryptocurrencies, bankers actively commented on what was happening with the coins and presented them as fraud or pyramid schemes. Even now, big bankers openly call cryptocurrencies "rubbish" and scare people with the volatility of their rates, i.e. sharp changes in the price of coins.


However, some banks have still managed to get in touch with coins. Despite the considerable amount invested, the share of digital assets in financial institutions’ portfolios remains minuscule.

What cryptocurrencies are held by banks

The details of big banks’ relationships with cryptocurrencies have come to light thanks to the activity of representatives of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which is working to create common standards for banks and their regulation. According to the agency, 19 out of 182 global banks in their field of operations have confirmed that they have digital assets. Total investments in this asset category amounted to the equivalent of $9.38 billion.

The amount sounds respectable, but overall it is a small proportion in the context of total assets held by financial institutions. As Cointelegraph points out, we are talking about 0.14 percent of the total risk-weighted asset structure of the 19 banks holding crypto.


If we consider all 182 banks surveyed, the proportion drops to as low as 0.01 percent of total assets.


For comparison, the already mentioned MicroStrategy can be cited as an example. Today it has 130 thousand bitcoins in its possession, which are valued at $2.61 billion. At the same time, a total of 3.98 billion has been spent on coins, which means that the company’s position has decreased by approximately 34 percent.

Periods of investment in Bitcoin by MicroStrategy

Accordingly, all banks invested more than MicroStrategy in crypto by a factor of only 2.35, which is a relatively small difference considering the number of financial companies.

Ranking of public companies with Bitcoin in their portfolio

Which cryptocurrencies do bankers prefer? Leading the way among individual coins are Bitcoin and Etherium, accounting for an average of 31 per cent and 22 per cent of investment portfolios. BTC- and ETH-based derivatives also have a high share of 35 per cent. Polkadot DOT and Ripple XRP with 2 per cent and Solana SOL and Cardano ADA with 1 per cent each received another notable result among individual cryptocurrencies.


The structure of the investments is also interesting. Most of the 50.2 per cent coins are used for storage and insurance activities, while 45.7 per cent are used for clearing and market making. Finally, the remaining 4.2 per cent of the digital assets on hand are used for loans and credits.


Overall, big investors will have more reasons to get involved with cryptocurrencies and tokens in the near future. And it’s not just the example of TIME magazine, which has made around $10 million on NFT links. The rise of cryptocurrency platforms will also have an impact here.

As representatives of the popular US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase confirmed the day before, the company is about to enter the Australian market. Initially, the platform will target regular retail traders, but management plans to focus on professional institutional investors over time.

Cryptocurrency investors

According to Coinbase vice president of international development and business development Nana Murugesan, growing during bearish trends pays off after the bull run, so the company is interested in expanding further.

As Murugesan notes, Coinbase started by building localised infrastructure, launching a local company, Coinbase Australia Pty Ltd, and getting the appropriate registration to provide digital currency exchange services from the local regulator. Here’s the relevant quote.

Given what’s happening with tokens, we’re getting a lot of technical questions from the Ministry of Finance and other departments. We’re talking about technical issues – that’s another thing that’s seen at a deeper level in Australia than in some other countries.

As a result, Coinbase will provide Australian traders with quick payments from bank accounts, access to an advanced trading platform and 24/7 chat support.


We believe it is only a matter of time before banks and other traditional financial institutions invest more heavily in cryptocurrencies. With the current inflation of conventional currencies, companies are more actively looking for a safe haven to protect their capital. And since some popular coins were able to generate thousands of percent returns in 2021, that sounds like a good reason to invest at least a tiny fraction of your overall portfolio in coins.


What do you think about what’s happening? Share your opinion in our Millionaire Cryptochat, where we discuss what’s happening in the niche.