A proposal to add Bitcoin to Switzerland’s national reserves has been initiated by the Swiss Chancellery.
The initiative, proposed by a coalition of ten Swiss crypto proponents including Tether’s Vice President of Energy and Mining Giw Zanganeh and the founder of Swiss think tank 2B4CH, Yves Bennaïm, needs 100,000 signatures to secure a constitutional amendment that would Swiss National Bank obliged to hold Bitcoin in addition to gold. part of its monetary reserves.
The proposal was initially officially submitted on December 5 registered in the Swiss Government Gazette on December 31, marking the beginning of an 18-month period during which the required signatures had to be requested.
With a Swiss population of around 8.9 million, 1.12% of citizens need to support the petition for it to pass. If this threshold is reached, the proposal will be submitted to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the country’s bicameral parliament, for review.
The initiative, called ‘For a financially sound, sovereign and responsible Switzerland’, focuses specifically on Article 99, paragraph 3 of the Swiss Federal Constitution.
The proposed amendment aims to add the clause: “The National Bank shall build up sufficient monetary reserves from its own revenues; part of these reserves consists of gold and Bitcoin.”
In the past, a similar initiative, launched by 2B4CH in 2021, was postponed due to timing issues and a lack of broad public and institutional support. At the time, the idea of nation states strategically owning Bitcoin was still in its infancy.
This time the preparations appear to be more structured, with Bennaïm and his team working on the organizational basis and necessary documentation since April 2024.
However, the Swiss National Bank remains cautious regarding cryptocurrencies. In a November statement, chairman Martin Schlegel emphasized that while digital assets such as Bitcoin have experienced significant growth, they still represent a “niche phenomenon” and face limitations due to their volatility, energy-intensive nature and links to illegal activities .
Meanwhile, the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority is concerned about the money laundering risks associated with cryptocurrencies.
Yet cryptocurrency adoption in Switzerland tells a different story on the ground. For example, the Swiss city of Lugano is at the forefront when it comes to Bitcoin adoption. The city not only hosts the annual “Plan₿” Bitcoin conference, which attracts crypto enthusiasts from all over the world, but has also embraced Bitcoin for tax payments since December 2023.
Switzerland is also home to the famous Crypto Valley, a web3 and blockchain hub in Zug. The region is home to more than 1,200 blockchain-focused companies, including 13 unicorns valued at more than $1 billion.
