Pierre Rochard, CEO of The Bitcoin Bond Company, has formally warned US banking regulators that their sweeping Basel III capital rewrite leaves unresolved how Bitcoin-related activities should be treated — a gap he says could create legal risk and shape how much capital banks must hold against the asset.
In a comment submitted March 29 to the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Rochard argued that agencies cannot finalize rules that effectively determine capital treatment for Bitcoin without clearly explaining the framework and evidence behind that treatment.
The silence in the proposal
The regulators’ March 19 proposals — a package that would comprehensively overhaul the existing US bank capital framework — did not mention Bitcoin, crypto, or digital assets a single time.
The package covers credit risk, market risk, operational risk, and counterparty exposures for the largest US banks, but leaves uncertainty over how existing categories apply to BTC holdings, lending, custody, and derivatives.
The gap matters because Basel already imposes a harsh capital treatment on certain unbacked crypto exposures, but the US proposals do not say whether that framework will apply to Bitcoin-related activities.
The 1,250% risk weight question
Rochard pointed specifically to the Basel Committee’s crypto asset framework, known as SCO60, which assigns a 1,250% risk weight to unbacked crypto assets such as Bitcoin.
He argued US regulators must clarify whether they intend to adopt that standard, apply elements of it selectively, or rely instead on existing domestic capital categories.
Noting that the same agencies recently issued a tokenized securities FAQ stating that eligible tokenized securities should receive the same capital treatment as non-tokenized counterparts, Rochard said no comparable guidance exists for Bitcoin exposures.
Rochard’s call for clarity
Without that clarity, banks would be left to interpret how rules apply to direct bitcoin wallet holdings, Bitcoin-collateralized lending, custody services, and derivatives exposure — increasing uncertainty across the industry.
Rochard stated:
“The fiat system should stop sabotaging itself. Bitcoin banking rules would improve bank net interest margins and lower interest rates for borrowers.”
Before the proposal’s release, some analysts had expected the re-proposal could ease capital requirements and potentially unlock liquidity for Bitcoin-related activities.
