As a naughty young child bitcoin was viewed as too vacuous and devoid of prospects to warrant serious attention.
“Cryptoassets have given rise to a range of concerns including consumer protection, money laundering and terrorist financing, and their carbon footprint,” the BIS report states.
Bitcoin may have come of age, but it’s still considered a problematic young adult prone to tantrums, rebellion and wild nights out on the tiles.
For many assets on their books, banks are obliged to put aside a certain amount of capital as insurance in case the asset suddenly loses value.
For every Swiss franc-worth of bitcoin a bank has on its balance sheet, it must set aside a Swiss franc as insurance.