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Basel SCO60 (Prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures)

Regulation

SCO60 is the Basel Committee prudential standard for bank exposures to crypto-assets, finalised in late 2022 and being implemented through national supervisors. The standard classifies tokenised traditional assets meeting specified conditions as Group 1a (broadly the same capital treatment as the underlying), other tokenised arrangements meeting weaker conditions as Group 1b, and unbacked crypto as Group 2 (sharply higher capital treatment with an exposure cap). Because Group 1a treatment is the gating condition for a bank to hold tokenised assets at viable capital cost, SCO60 is the load-bearing prudential text for any bank tokenisation programme. The standard is now under targeted review, endorsed by GHOS in March 2026 and being expedited per the November 2025 Basel Committee meeting.

Why it matters for tokenisation

  • Group 1a vs Group 2 classification determines whether a tokenised asset is economically holdable on a bank balance sheet.
  • The targeted review is the principal Basel-side process operators should track for any horizon longer than six months.

Recent activity

  • 24 Mar 2026Basel III monitoring exercise expands cryptoasset exposures dashboard.
  • 9 Mar 2026GHOS welcomes Basel III implementation progress and endorses targeted reviews of the cryptoasset and G-SIB standards.
  • 25 Feb 2026Basel Committee discusses progress of the targeted review of the cryptoasset standard.
  • 19 Nov 2025Basel Committee meets in Mexico City and agrees to expedite the targeted review of the cryptoasset standard.

Open questions

  • Whether the targeted review will revisit the Group 1a / Group 2 boundary or only adjust calibration around it. Substantive direction is not yet public.