This is another milestone for Bitcoin which apparently appears for the first time on a central bank’s balance sheet.
The Czech National Bank (CNB) announced on Thursday the creation of a $1 million test wallet comprising Bitcoin, a USD stablecoin and a token deposit.
Approved by the bank’s board on October 30, the pilot is designed to give the central bank hands-on experience with blockchain-based assets, which it says could reshape the way payments and financial systems work in the future.
The total amount invested will not be actively increased, the bank said, and the acquisition was made outside of the bank’s existing international reserves.
In January this year, CNB Governor Aleš Michl first floated the idea of investing in bitcoin, a move that was met with derision by ECB President Christine Lagarde. Although it is part of the European Union and the ECB, the Czech Republic has not adopted the euro, which gives its central bank a minimum of independence from the rest of the continent.
“I had the idea to create a testing portfolio in January 2025,” Michl said in this morning’s announcement. “The goal was to test decentralized bitcoin from a central bank perspective and assess its potential role in diversifying our reserves.”
