Draft Capital and Liquidity Treatment of Crypto-asset Exposures (Banking) Guideline (2027) – Letter

Today, we are launching a 60-day public consultation on the draft revisions to the Capital and Liquidity Treatment of Crypto-asset Exposures (Banking) Guideline. The comments we receive during the public consultation will inform final changes to the guideline. The revised guideline will come into effect on November 1, 2026 or January 1, 2027 for institutions with a fiscal year ending October 31 or December 31, respectively.

The proposed revisions build upon the latest version of the guideline that came into effect in Q1 2026. The revisions aim to reflect developments in the crypto market and support innovation, while ensuring that the capital and liquidity treatment of crypto‑asset exposures continues to reflect the underlying risks faced by institutions, and remains prudent in light of the dynamic nature of the crypto market.

We are proposing targeted revisions to the guideline to recognize cross‑exchange hedging for Group 2a crypto‑assets traded on regulated exchanges. This change would allow offsetting positions in the same crypto‑asset held on different regulated exchanges to be fully recognized for capital purposes, while maintaining existing constraints on the recognition of time‑to‑maturity hedging and hedging between unregulated exchanges.

In our October 29, 2025 letter to industry, we noted that we are continuing to examine several key issues, including the risk weight applied to Group 2a crypto‑assets and Group 2a crypto-assets’ eligibility as collateral. We are not proposing any changes to those elements of the guideline at this time.

Stakeholders who wish to submit comments should send them to Consultations@osfi-bsif.gc.ca by July 20, 2026. We will post a non-attributed summary of the comments we receive, together with our responses, on our website alongside the final version of the guideline in September 2026.