A new initiative has been launched to amend the Swiss Federal Constitution to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin as part of its reserves. This proposal is driven by a group of Bitcoin advocates, including the Swiss nonprofit think tank 2B4CH, and was officially registered in Switzerland’s Federal Gazette on December 31. To move forward, the proposal must gather 100,000 signatures by June 30, 2026, which would then trigger a public referendum.
The proposed amendment, Article 99 Paragraph 3, suggests that the National Bank should build up adequate monetary reserves from its own earnings, with a portion of these reserves consisting of gold and Bitcoin. The activists, spearheaded by Yves Bennaïm, view this as a strategic move towards ensuring a financially sound and sovereign Switzerland.
The city of Lugano, known for its embrace of Bitcoin, hosts an annual Bitcoin conference and has seen significant adoption, with approximately 260 merchants accepting the cryptocurrency. Despite Bitcoin’s growing acceptance in some parts of Switzerland, Swiss National Bank Chair Martin Schlegel has expressed concerns over Bitcoin’s energy consumption and its viability as a payment method.
While Switzerland considers this significant financial move, it joins other nations like the United States, Brazil, and Poland, which are exploring similar Bitcoin reserve strategies. These discussions form part of a broader global trend of countries evaluating the strategic reserve of Bitcoin in national financial systems.
