An Initiative Aimed at Forcing the Swiss National Bank to Hold Bitcoin Has Been Shelved

In Switzerland, an initiative by Bitcoin advocates to make it mandatory to add Bitcoin to the country’s central bank reserves has failed. According to Reuters, the campaign will end after failing to gather the necessary signatures to initiate a referendum.

Under an initiative called the “Bitcoin Initiative,” activists aimed to amend the Swiss Constitution to require the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to hold Bitcoin alongside its gold and foreign currency reserves. Swiss law required 100,000 signatures to begin the referendum process. However, weeks before the campaign deadline, only about half the required signatures had been collected.

“We knew from the beginning that this was a difficult goal. For now, we’ll let the initiative run its course,” the initiative’s founder, Yves Bennaim, told Reuters. Bennaim argued, however, that the campaign had raised awareness, which is crucial for achieving its long-term goals.

The SNB had previously stated that it was not keen on considering Bitcoin as a reserve asset. The bank cited the high volatility and insufficient market liquidity of cryptocurrencies, concluding that “cryptocurrencies do not meet the SNB’s reserve criteria.” According to the SNB, reserve assets must be easily increased or decreased as needed and maintain their value.

While some central banks around the world are exploring the idea of including digital assets in their reserves, different approaches are attracting attention. The Czech Central Bank reportedly purchased approximately $1 million worth of cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based assets last year to experiment with digital asset markets, while the European Central Bank is taking a more cautious approach, arguing that reserves must be “liquid, safe, and secure.”

The recent price drops in Bitcoin have reignited the debate. According to data reported by Reuters, Bitcoin has lost approximately 7.5% of its value so far in 2026. The previous year, the decline was 6.4%. Despite this, Bennaim argues that Bitcoin does not have a liquidity problem, stating that daily trading volumes reach tens of billions of dollars.

Bitcoin supporters believe the digital asset could diversify the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) reserves by reducing the weight of dollars and euros in the currency. While approximately three-quarters of the SNB’s foreign currency reserves consist of dollar and euro-denominated assets, Bennaim stated, “Bitcoin is an alternative to the dollar and euro, an internationally neutral asset like Switzerland.”

*This is not investment advice.