Crypto in a large portfolio: size it first, then pick the rule

Why does the percentage come before the coin?

Because size moves the loss more than selection does. Take a portfolio of ₹1 crore and compare two bad outcomes.

A coin that goes to zero inside a 3 percent position costs ₹3 lakh. Bitcoin falling 77 percent inside a 10 percent position costs ₹7.7 lakh (₹10 lakh × 0.77).

The coin that failed completely did less damage than the coin that fell most of the way, because the second sat in a bigger position.

Coin questions arrive first because a coin is what the screen shows. The percentage is what the portfolio feels. We would reverse the order. Fix the size, then how it is held and rebalanced, and pick the coins last.

How do you size a crypto position?

Divide the loss you can sit through by the fall you plan for. The answer is the largest position that keeps a bad stretch inside your limit. It takes three steps, and each one is a number you write down before you open any app.

Step 1: write the loss as a rupee figure

Pick an amount in rupees. On a ₹1 crore portfolio, say ₹2.5 lakh, which is 2.5 percent of the whole.

It is the loss on this sleeve (the slice of the portfolio set aside for crypto) after which you would change what you do. If you cannot name the figure, the position is already larger than it should be.

Step 2: choose a past fall as the stress case

Use one that happened. Bit.com's table of Bitcoin bear markets shows a high of $69,044 in 2021 and a low of $15,479 in 2022, a fall of 77 percent over about 380 days. The same table lists earlier falls of 94, 87 and 84 percent.

It is a stress test, and the next fall can be shallower or deeper.

Step 3: divide

₹2,50,000 ÷ 0.77 = ₹3,24,675. Round down to ₹3 lakh, which is 3 percent of the portfolio. Check it backwards: 77 percent of ₹3 lakh is ₹2,31,000, inside the ₹2.5 lakh limit.

Plan for the 84 percent fall instead and the answer barely moves: ₹2,50,000 ÷ 0.84 = ₹2,97,619, which also rounds to about ₹3 lakh.

The one input that is yours is the limit. Set it at 5 percent of the portfolio, ₹5 lakh, and the same division gives ₹5,00,000 ÷ 0.77 = ₹6,49,351, or about 6.5 percent. Doubling the limit doubles the position. The coin does not appear anywhere in the sum.

Bitcoin's fall is the conservative stress case for a basket that also holds Gold and a stable reserve, which are there to behave differently when Bitcoin falls. That is design intent, not a promise.

How should the position be held?

With the questions you would put to a custodian of anything else: who holds it, and how you can verify it is there. Qatobit holds assets in institutional custody, publishes live Proof of Reserves and states that user assets are insured. The bigger the sleeve, the more weight that last question carries.

Proof of Reserves is a live, verifiable record of all crypto assets Qatobit holds on behalf of users. What a snapshot of reserves proves, and what it leaves open, is set out in What a reserves snapshot can and cannot prove. How to read a proof-of-reserves attestation walks the document line by line.

What rule rebalances it, and what does a trim cost in tax?

Two rules run at two levels, and only one of them is yours to set.

Inside the basket, a published rule resets the weights once a month, the same way every time. Qatobit's methodology page describes the reset as trimming what has run hot and topping up what has lagged. A monthly rebalance inside an index is not the investor's taxable event. The sale of the basket is.

Inside the portfolio, the rule is yours. Suppose the ₹3 lakh sleeve doubles to ₹6 lakh while the other ₹97 lakh stays where it is. The portfolio is now ₹1.03 crore and the sleeve is 5.8 percent of it (₹6 lakh ÷ ₹1.03 crore).

To get back to 3 percent, or ₹3.09 lakh, you sell about ₹2.91 lakh. Say half of what you sell is what you originally paid. The gain is ₹1,45,500.

Section 115BBH of the Income-tax Act taxes income from the transfer of a virtual digital asset at 30 percent, and allows no deduction except the cost of acquisition. On that gain the tax is ₹43,650 (30 percent of ₹1,45,500). Section 194S separately provides for 1 percent TDS on the consideration paid for a transfer above a monetary threshold. How TDS on crypto works under section 194S covers the mechanics.

A loss does not help here. TaxGuru's reproduction of the scheme says a loss from the transfer of a virtual digital asset cannot be set off against any other income. Inside a basket, a loss on one token offsets a gain on another, because the taxable event is the sale of the basket. Someone holding the same coins directly gets nothing of the sort. Every winner is taxed and every loser is stranded.

So a trim has a price, and the sleeve rule should reflect it. We would set a wide band, such as a review only when the sleeve leaves 2 to 4 percent of the portfolio. New money goes to the sleeve before anything is sold from it. The band is an illustration, and the width is yours.

Should the position go in at once or in stages?

In stages when the first fall would test you. A ₹25,000 monthly SIP reaches ₹3 lakh in 12 instalments (12 × ₹25,000 = ₹3,00,000). A lump sum of ₹3 lakh puts the whole position through the first month's move.

Staging does not change the target. It changes how much of it is exposed while the habit forms. SIP vs lump sum: what each asks of your nerve works through that choice.

Which coins come last?

By the time size, custody, rule and entry are settled, the coin question is a choice of basket by thesis. Qatobit's methodology gives every holding a role defined before the asset is chosen.

QSI Growth holds Bitcoin as the anchor, Ethereum as the core, Solana as a bounded growth lever, Gold as a buffer and a stable reserve. As of 16 October 2026, Qatobit's index page shows Bitcoin 40 percent, Ethereum 25 percent, Solana 15 percent, Gold 15 percent and the reserve 5 percent. The live page is the one home of those figures, so read it before relying on them.

On a ₹3 lakh sleeve that is ₹1,20,000 in Bitcoin, ₹75,000 in Ethereum, ₹45,000 in Solana, ₹45,000 in Gold and ₹15,000 in the reserve. The five add up to ₹3,00,000, and you know what you own before you pay.

QSI VRION holds Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana with no hedge layer, so nothing in its construction eases the stress case from Step 2. QSI Core carries a larger Gold buffer. Pick the index whose job matches the job you gave the sleeve.

What would a family office ask any platform?

Qatobit's page for larger portfolios names four questions that matter more than any feature list. They are who built the process, who holds the assets, how it reports and what it costs to leave. They work as a checklist for any platform, including ours.

On process, the methodology page lists eight governed stages, and every methodology change is versioned and dated under change control. On custody, the assets sit in institutional custody with live Proof of Reserves. On reporting, rebalance reports publish with each rebalance, showing what was sold and what was bought.

On leaving, there is no exit load at any holding period and no annual management fee. A basket buy, sell or rebalance carries a 0.35 percent fee, which is ₹1,050 on ₹3 lakh, shown before you confirm.

What the order gives you

Size first, then custody, then the rebalance rule, then the way in, and the coin last. Each step is a number or a document you can write down, and none needs a view on where the price goes.

With the first three on paper, invest in QSI Growth or the index that fits the sleeve's job.

How to think about crypto allocation in a diversified Indian portfolio works the inputs behind the limit. What a drawdown is and how a position is sized to survive one goes deeper on Step 2. The rule that governs the basket itself is in the QSI Growth methodology.

Frequently asked questions

How much of a ₹1 crore portfolio can go into crypto?

It depends on the loss you can sit through. Divide that loss by the fall you plan for. A ₹2.5 lakh limit and a 77 percent fall give about ₹3 lakh, or 3 percent. A ₹5 lakh limit gives about ₹6.5 lakh, or 6.5 percent.

What fall should a crypto position be sized for?

A past one, chosen as a stress case. Bit.com's table shows Bitcoin falling 77 percent from 2021 to 2022, after earlier falls of 94, 87 and 84 percent. It is history, not a forecast.

Is the monthly rebalance inside a QSI index a taxable event?

No. A monthly rebalance inside an index is not the investor's taxable event. The sale of the basket is. Section 115BBH taxes the gain at 30 percent, and section 194S provides for 1 percent TDS on the transfer.

What does it cost to hold and leave a QSI basket?

A basket buy, sell or rebalance carries a 0.35 percent fee. There is no annual management fee and no exit load, at any holding period.

Should a crypto position go in at once or in stages?

Either can work. Stages keep part of the position out of the first month's move. ₹25,000 a month reaches ₹3 lakh in 12 instalments.

Source lines. Bitcoin figures: Bit.com, bear market table, https://www.bit.com/knowledge-hub/bitcoin-cycles, read 16 October 2026. Tax: TaxGuru, scheme for taxation of virtual digital assets, https://taxguru.in/income-tax/scheme-taxation-virtual-digital-assets.html, read 16 October 2026. Index weights and methodology: https://qatobit.com/indices, https://qatobit.com/methodology and https://qatobit.com/vip, read 16 October 2026.

Crypto investments are subject to market risk. Not financial advice.