Swiss Chancellery Registers Proposal to Add Bitcoin to National Reserves

A proposal to include Bitcoin in Switzerland’s national reserves has been formally initiated by the Swiss Chancellery.

The proposal, championed by a coalition of ten Swiss crypto advocates, including Tether’s Vice President of Energy and Mining, Giw Zanganeh, and Yves Bennaïm, the founder of the Swiss think tank 2B4CH, requires 100,000 signatures to trigger a constitutional amendment. This amendment would mandate the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin alongside gold as part of its monetary reserves.

The proposal was first submitted on December 5 and officially registered in Switzerland’s Federal Gazette on December 31. This marks the beginning of an 18-month period to collect the necessary signatures.

With a population of around 8.9 million, the proposal needs the support of 1.12% of the citizens for it to succeed. If the required number of signatures is achieved, the proposal will move forward to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the country’s bicameral parliament, for further review.

Titled “For a financially sound, sovereign, and responsible Switzerland,” the initiative specifically targets Article 99, Paragraph 3 of the Swiss Federal Constitution.

The amendment proposes to add a new clause: “The National Bank builds up sufficient monetary reserves from its own earnings; part of these reserves are made up of gold and Bitcoin.”

In 2021, a similar initiative by 2B4CH was postponed due to concerns over timing and insufficient public and institutional support. At that time, the concept of nations holding Bitcoin as part of their reserves was still in its early stages.

This time, however, the initiative appears to be more structured, with Bennaïm and his team having worked on organizational preparations and necessary documentation since April 2024.

The Swiss National Bank, however, has shown caution regarding cryptocurrencies. In a statement in November, Chairman Martin Schlegel emphasized that while digital assets like Bitcoin have grown significantly, they remain a “niche phenomenon” and face challenges due to their volatility, energy consumption, and connections to illicit activities.

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority has expressed concerns about the risks of money laundering linked to cryptocurrencies.

However, on the ground, Switzerland’s approach to crypto adoption tells a different story. For example, the Swiss city of Lugano is at the forefront of Bitcoin adoption, not only hosting the annual “Plan ₿” Bitcoin conference, which attracts global crypto enthusiasts, but also allowing Bitcoin payments for taxes since December 2023.

Switzerland is also home to the renowned Crypto Valley, a blockchain and web3 hub located in Zug, where more than 1,200 blockchain-focused companies, including 13 unicorns valued at over $1 billion, are based.