Bitcoin is on the road to gold, with Yves Bennaïm, founder and chairman of Swiss pro-Bitcoin think tank 2B4CH, launching a welcome initiative to amend the country’s constitution to allow the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to buy and hold Bitcoin.
Currently, the initiative needs to obtain 100,000 valid signatures from Swiss citizens within 18 months before all Swiss citizens can vote on the proposed constitutional amendment. Switzerland currently has a population of 8.77 million, which means that about 1.15% of the local population needs to sign the petition.
Ben-Naim stressed: "Adding Bitcoin to the central bank's asset reserves marks Switzerland's independence from the European Central Bank, which helps protect the country's sovereignty and neutrality in an increasingly uncertain world situation."
Ben-Naim said preparations for the move have already taken shape. In an interview with foreign media, he claimed that they are "preparing the documents that must be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office to start this process."
Bitcoin.com reported that the idea of Bitcoin as a reserve asset and hedge against geopolitical conflicts is taking shape. Ben-Naim proposed launching a national consultation to amend the constitution to include Bitcoin as a reserve asset that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) can hold.
The proposed amendment would change a clause that states the SNB “creates sufficient monetary reserves out of its revenues, a part of these reserves being held in the form of gold” to read “a part of these reserves is held in the form of gold and Bitcoin.”
Ben-Nayim is not alone in this movement, as he has rallied the support of other Bitcoin supporters in the country. Luzius Meisser, president of asset management firm Bitcoin Suisse, will also be pushing for the initiative at the next banking conference.
“My statement also has a marketing component, but I do believe that Bitcoin should be part of the Swiss monetary reserve,” he said.
“If the Swiss National Bank adopts Ben-Nayim’s proposal in 2022, Swiss national assets will increase by 30 billion Swiss francs, or about 32.9 billion U.S. dollars, by purchasing Bitcoin.”
He warned: “If Switzerland misses out this time and is later caught up by other central banks, it may have to pay a higher price than others to buy Bitcoin in the future.”
The SNB ignored a similar proposal in 2022 when Meisel and others suggested the bank could buy Bitcoin in exchange for German bonds.
At the time, SNB Governing Council Chairman Thomas Jordan said Bitcoin did not meet the requirements to be a reserve currency.
Still, supporters of the consultation believe that the recent approval of bitcoin ETF vehicles in the United States and Hong Kong could change the bank’s stance.
An actual case before the Swiss National Bank was Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, who fully embraced Bitcoin. The country officially listed Bitcoin as its national legal currency in September 2021, and between 2021 and 2022, it purchased a total of 3,062 bitcoins at an average price of US$40,594.93, with a total investment cost of approximately US$124 million.
