A group of ten Swiss Bitcoin enthusiasts just launched an audacious, years-long campaign to force its central bank buy Bitcoin.
The initiative seeks to amend an article in Switzerland’s constitution to include the $1.8 trillion asset alongside gold as the bank’s currency reserve.
The reason?
High returns, of course.
“All we’re saying is that gold is in the constitution, and Bitcoin is the best-performing asset of the last decade,” Yves Bennaïm, a Swiss scholar behind the initiative and founding member of the non-profit group called 2B4CH, told DL News.
“So why not diversify?”
Long road ahead
Though the group scored a key win on Tuesday, it will be long before the Swiss National Bank ever buys Bitcoin.
The Swiss Federal Chancellery, which oversees Switzerland’s legislative process, approved the group’s initiative this week.
The group now has 18 months to gather 100,000 signatures in favour of the amendment and present it to the Swiss National Assembly.
If it supports the amendment, Swiss citizens will vote on whether to execute it.
Today we officially launched the popular initiative to add #Bitcoin to the @SNB_BNS Swiss National Bank’s balance sheet. https://t.co/Y40yh9pW3X
We will need the full support of our community to gather 100k signatures and make this a national referendum. Details will follow…
— Giw Zanganeh (@gzanganeh) December 31, 2024
Bennaïm expects another three and a half years before that vote.
For now, he’s galvanising the crypto community in the country.
“We hope to kick start the signature campaign without having to convince newcomers and gather signatures from Bitcoin enthusiasts and their family and friends,” he said.
The Swiss National Bank has been critical of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Martin Schlegal, the bank’s chairman, raised concerns about its energy consumption and links to illicit activity.
In April 2024, Thomas Jordan, the bank’s former president, cited illiquidity and price fluctuation as reasons for not investing in Bitcoin.
“Currency reserves are international means of payment, which need to be liquid, must retain their value and we must be easily able to buy and sell them,” he said at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting in 2024.
This time’s different?
The initiative’s timing is apt.
President-elect Donald Trump ran his election campaign on promises to build a Bitcoin reserve, among other crypto pledges.
Germany’s centrist Free Democratic Party also included a provision in election materials indicating their openness to the European Central Bank and the German Central Bank holding Bitcoin. Analysts at Franklin Templeton expect several nations to create Bitcoin reserves this year.
Bennaïm said that the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds hitting the market in January 2024 and the state-owned bank PostFinance adopting crypto services in Switzerland were other triggers.
The Swiss National Bank holds approximately $153 billion in assets, according to data collected by Fintel.
Crypto market movers
Bitcoin dropped 1.8% over the past 24 hours to reach $93,838.
Ethereum is down almost 3% over the same period to $3,334.
What we’re reading
Bitcoin to $200,000 in 2025? 11 experts weigh in on where the market’s going ― DL News
Is this the start of crypto’s ‘golden age’? ― Milk Road
Don’t expect Bitcoin fireworks ahead of New Year, traders ya, as BTC ETFs lose $420m ― CoinDesk
What you missed this week ― Milk Road
The top DeFi trends to watch for in 2025 ― DL News
Liam Kelly is a Berlin-based reporter for DL News. Got a tip? Email him at liam@dlnews.com.
