A fresh proposal to constitutionally mandate the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet has been set in motion by the Swiss federal chancellery on Dec. 31.
The proposal will need to accumulate 100,000 signatures for it to be put to a public referendum, according to Tether’s vice president of Energy and Mining Giw Zanganeh, who helped launch the proposal with Yves Bennaïm, founder and chairman of Swiss Bitcoin nonprofit think tank 2B4CH and eight other Bitcoin advocates.
2B4CH had been preparing to submit documents to the State Chancellery since at least April to renew attempts at a successful proposal after it postponed its first filing in October 2021 — when the idea of a nation-state strategically holding Bitcoin (BTC) was not as common.
“We were waiting for the right timing. Now, everything is falling into place, and this is why we submitted the documents and will start collecting the signatures,” Bennaïm told Cointelegraph.
The Bitcoin proposal for a “financially sound, sovereign and responsible Switzerland” was submitted on Dec. 5 and was officially registered in Switzerland’s Federal Gazette on Dec. 31.
It specifically proposes Article 99 Paragraph 3 of the Swiss Federal Constitution to be amended to:
“The National Bank builds up sufficient monetary reserves from its own earnings; part of these reserves are made up of gold and Bitcoin.”
Source: Bitcoin Initiative
Achieving this constitutional amendment has been the primary mission of Bennaïm’s 2B4CH.
The Bitcoin advocates must rack up 100,000 signatures by June 30, 2026 — around 18 months from now.
Switzerland boasts a population of 8.92 million, meaning about 1.12% of locals will need to sign the petition.
Source: Bitcoin Valais
Bitcoin is already widely adopted in the Italian-speaking city of Lugano, where the “Plan ₿” Bitcoin conference is hosted each year.
Around 260 merchants accept Bitcoin in the southern city populated with 63,000 residents, BTCMaps data shows.
However, last month, SNB’s Chair Martin Schlegel reportedly expressed concern over Bitcoin’s use as a payment and the “huge amount of energy” used to secure the network.
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The United States is the most notable country considering adopting Bitcoin — but unlike Switzerland, the Treasury would hold it — should the US Senator Cynthia Lummis-sponsored Bitcoin reserve bill pass.
Politicians in Brazil and Poland are also eyeing the idea of establishing a Bitcoin reserve.
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