A group of cryptocurrency advocates in Switzerland has urged the government to consider adding Bitcoin to the national reserve.
The Swiss Federal Chancellery has initiated the process of obtaining the required number of signatures to push for an amendment to the country’s constitution to allow the Swiss National Bank build Bitcoin holdings.
Bitcoin initiative launched
Before the end of 2024, the Swiss Federal Chancellery adopted a proposal to include cryptocurrency in the country’s balance sheet.
The state government agency reported that application seeks to revise certain provisions of the Swiss federal constitution to allow the Swiss National Bank to purchase Bitcoins as part of the European country’s national reserve.
Switzerland’s central bank faces a halt call #bitcoin in reserveshttps://t.co/o7qO7fBnEi
— Gunther Schnabl (@GuntherSchnabl) January 1, 2025
After examining the prospects, the Swiss Federal Chancellery launched the process for the Crypto Initiative, concluding that the proposal formally meets the legal requirements.
“For a financially sound, sovereign and responsible Switzerland (Bitcoin Initiative)” meets the conditions set out in Art. 69 section 2 of the Federal Act of December 17, 1976 on Political Rights,” the government body stated on the Fedlex website.
100,000 signatures needed
The Initiative around 100,000 signatures from the Swiss public were needed to push for a constitutional change that would require the country’s central bank to add BTC as part of the country’s foreign exchange reserve along with gold.
The Swiss Federal Chancellery aims to obtain the required number of signatures by June 30, 2026 in order to be able to present a proposal to amend Art. 99 section 3 of the country’s federal constitution.
The initiative will add a clause: ‘The National Bank shall create sufficient monetary reserves from its own revenues; part of these reserves consists of gold and Bitcoins,” says Switzerland’s federal constitution, which gives the country’s central bank the power to purchase key digital assets as part of its national reserves.
A long way to go
Reports show that for a constitutional change to take place, cryptocurrency supporters need to get the support of about 1.12% of Switzerland’s population, or 8.92 million citizens, to support the petition.
Once the threshold is reached, the Bitcoin Initiative will be referred to the country’s bicameral parliament, the Swiss Federal Assembly, for review.
The proposal was submitted by 10 cryptocurrency advocates in Switzerland to urge the Swiss government to accept Bitcoin in its national reserves. These supporters include Tether’s vice president for energy and mining Giw Zanganeh and 2B4CH founder Yves Bennaïm.
However, the Swiss National Bank remains conservative towards cryptocurrencies, fearing the risks associated with the adoption of Bitcoin at the central bank.
Martin Schlegel, chairman of the board of directors of the Swiss National Bank, believes that Bitcoin and other digital assets are still considered a “niche phenomenon”, adding that cryptocurrencies have limitations due to their volatility and links to illicit activity.
Featured image from Newsweek, chart from TradingView
