Basell 111 endgame--gold now is safe-heaven for US banks

As of February 23, 2026, new Basel III "Endgame" regulations have officially reclassified how banks hold precious metals, placing them in direct competition with U.S. Treasuries for a spot on bank balance sheets

 According to the endgame rule, if US banks can hold gold on their balance sheet.

a. Tier 1 asset---high quality and high liquidity.    If they hold physical gold, no hair cut of the value, 100% , as how  treasury is treated;

b. 0 Risk--will be treated as 0% risk, as how treasury is treated.   

c. counterpart risk---gold has now counter part risk,yet treasury has, which is the issurers;

d. but income potential--no income for holding gold (it has storage cost), yet treasury is paying interest. 

In short, the physical gold or spot is reclassified as tier 1 asset