While more and more countries are considering building up a strategic reserve of Bitcoins (BTC), several Swiss supporters of cryptocurrency have decided to take action. Depending on the popular support they obtain, the Swiss national bank could soon be obliged to create this reserve.
Towards the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the Swiss country?
In Switzerland, the year 2024 ended with the presentation of a bill aimed at obliging the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to build up a strategic reserve in Bitcoins. In order for this measure to see the light of day, the Swiss Federal Chancellery specified that the federal popular initiative must be supported by a certain number of Swiss citizens.
“ We will need full support from our community in order to gather the 100,000 signatures necessary for Switzerland to organize a national referendum around this proposal, ” explain Gim ZanganehTether's vice president of energy and mining.
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
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The latter, as well as 9 other supporters of the development of Bitcoin, is at the origin of the initiative. For many months, the Swiss Bitcoin think tank 2B4CH has been building a strong case for the Swiss Federal Chancellery. The latter had already received similar files from the association, but they had been rejected.
Its file now validated, 2B4CH and all the people who carried out the project will seek to obtain the required signatures. The Swiss Federal Chancellery gives them 18 months, until June 30, 2026 to accumulate 100,000 signatures.
Currently, Switzerland counts for slightly less of 9 million inhabitantswhich means that if just over 1% of the country's population were to express interest in the federal popular initiative, a national referendum would be organized.
If the yes vote were to prevail in this vote, the BNS would be obliged, from its revenues, to build up “sufficient monetary reserves, a part of which must consist of gold and Bitcoin”. To ensure this, the Swiss constitution would be amended accordingly.
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A Switzerland historically favorable to the adoption of cryptocurrencies
Last August, MicroStrategy's Q2 2024 results revealed that the SNB had purchased shares in the company. The American company is known for having placed the accumulation of BTC at the center of its economic strategy. Therefore, indirectly, the Swiss central bank is exposed to cryptocurrency.
In Switzerland, it is the Italian-speaking city of Lugano which is known for having widely adopted Bitcoin since the end of 2023. More than 250 merchants accept cryptocurrency as a means of payment, positioning themselves as a true European capital of Bitcoin.
👉 Also read – Switzerland: the canton of Bern could launch into Bitcoin (BTC) mining
In addition to the example of Lugano, several Swiss banking institutions have decided to enter the world of cryptocurrencies. Thus, Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), the 4th largest Swiss bank, allows its clients to invest in BTC, but also in Ether (ETH). In a similar vein, SIXa private company owned by around 120 Swiss banks, plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange on European soil.
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Source: FedLex
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Surprised by the rise of crypto-assets at the end of the 2010s, I began to closely follow this sector which fascinates me to the greatest extent. When I'm not in football stadiums, rugby stadiums or handball halls, I work on writing relevant articles around cryptocurrencies and more broadly, Web3.
Zacharie Tazrout
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