The president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), Martin Schlegel, did not want to make Bitcoin a reserve asset in Switzerland – citing a lack of stability, concerns of liquidity and security risks.
Schlegel’s position is opposed to a proposal from the Bitcoin Swiss 2b4ch non -profit reflection group and other Bitcoin defenders to constitutionally demand the BNB to hold Bitcoin (BTC) on its balance sheet.
Schlegel first told Tamedia the Swiss local media that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were too volatile, which is not conducive to the maintenance of the BNB investment value.
“Second, our reserves must be very liquid so that they can be used quickly for monetary policy if necessary,” Schlegel told Tamedia on March 1.
Source: Bitcoin Initiative
Schlegel also stressed that because bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are managed by software, they are intrinsically sensitive to bugs and technical vulnerabilities:
“We all know that software can have bugs and other weaknesses.”
While Schlegel has recognized that the cryptography market secures nearly 3 dollars, he said that industry remains a “niche phenomenon” compared to the wider financial system.
The president of the Swiss central bank added that he did not see Bitcoin or the crypto possibly dethroned the Swiss franc:
“We are not afraid of competition from cryptocurrencies.”
The 2B4CH proposal was staged by the Swiss Federal Chancellery on December 31, where it will have to obtain 100,000 signatures to put in a public referendum.
They have until June 30, 2026 to obtain the 100,000 signatures – in about 16 months.
Switzerland has 8.97 million inhabitants, which means that around 1.11% of the inhabitants must sign the petition.
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Despite Schlegel’s criticism, Switzerland is one of the main adoption countries of Bitcoin – in particular in the city of Lugano, where the annual conference of “Plan ₿” takes place.
A bitcoin reserve is currently being envisaged in the United States, in the Czech Republic and Hong Kong, while El Salvador continues to stack at least one bit to its treasury, launched in September 2021.
Poland recently excluded the possibility of making a reserve asset.
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