The Swiss National Bank rejected the detention of Bitcoin reserves, invoking concerns concerning the liquidity and volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
“For cryptocurrencies, the liquidity of the market, even if it may seem correct sometimes, is especially during the crises naturally questioned,” SNB president Martin Schlegel said on Friday at the meeting of the Bank’s general meeting.
“Cryptocurrencies are also known for their high volatility, which is a risk of preserving long-term value. In short, we can say that cryptocurrencies at the moment do not meet high requirements for our currency reserves. ”
Schlegel’s comments were caused by the Bitcoin initiative, a Bitcoin plea group whose research shows that the addition of Bitcoin to the Swiss Treasury would complete its global portfolio and produce substantial yield with minimum volatility.
Without Bitcoin, investments by the Swiss National Bank have increased by around 10% since 2015. A 1% bitcoin allowance in the central bank portfolio would have almost doubled yields during the same period, according to a Bitcoin Initiative portfolio simulation. The annualized volatility would have increased only slightly.
The Bitcoin initiative stressed that the volatility of Bitcoin should not be evaluated in isolation, but in terms of influence on the global dynamics and the performance of the investment portfolio.
“”[Bitcoin] The price has reached new heights, it has shown resilience under the stress of the market, and it continues to be very liquid with trading volumes to two -digit billions, every day and every day, even on public holidays, “said Luzius Meisser, member of the Bitcoin initiative and member of the Bitcoin Bitcoin Bitcoin.
“The Bitcoin network remains one of the most reliable and most secure computer systems ever created. Above all, the United States has launched a stock of strategic bitcoin. ”
In a declaration sent by email to Coindesk, the Bitcoin initiative suggested that the aversion of the Swiss National Bank in Bitcoin could be political, because it could be perceived as “an expression of distrust towards other currencies” and harm the delicate relations between Switzerland and the European Union.
The president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, has always criticized Bitcoin, calling it “is worth nothing” and a “very speculative active” linked to money laundering. In January, Lagarde said “I am confident” that “Bitcoins will not enter the reserves of any of the Central Banks of the General Council” of the ECB.
It was in response to the comments made by the governor of the Czech National Bank, Ales Michl, that his institution evaluated the addition of bitcoin to his reserves. Lagarde argued that Bitcoin does not meet the criteria of the ECB for Liquidity, Security and Security of Criminal Associations.
In February, the central bank of Poland excluded “keeping the reserves in bitcoins in all circumstances” and the Romanian central bank warned the banks not to issue loans to cryptographic companies.
The president of the federal reserve, Jerome Powell, said in December 2024 that the American central bank was “not authorized to own Bitcoin” according to the law of the federal reserve and that it does not seek to modify the law.
The Swiss National Bank has an indirect exposure to Bitcoin through shares that have Bitcoin vouchers, including 520,000 strategy shares, 8.12 million Tesla shares, 580,000 shares of Mara Holdings and 500,000 Cleanspark shares, at the end of 2024 according to Fortel Data.
Schlegel rejected citizen calls to add Bitcoin reserves to the chests of the Swiss Central Bank as recently as last month. Regarding technological progress, Schlegel noted Thursday that SNB manages a pilot project using digital currency from the Central Bank to facilitate payments between financial institutions.
On the other hand, the American president Donald Trump signed this year a decree which establishes a reserve of strategic bitcoin and a stock of crypto, as well as a council of crypto which will assess the neutral budgetary means to supplement the digital reserves of American. The order also prohibits government agencies from creating or promoting a digital currency of the central bank in the United States by concerns of confidentiality for citizens.
