The Swiss National Bank denied the handling of Bitcoin reserves, citing liquidity concerns and volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
“For cryptocurrencies, liquidity in the market, though it seems OK at times, especially during the natural crisis that is naturally discussed,” President SNB said Martin Schlegel at a meeting of the bank’s general assembly on Friday.
“Cryptocurrencies are also known for their high volatility, which is a risk for the preservation of long -term value. In short, one can say that cryptocurrencies at the moment are not fulfilling high requirements for our money reserves.”
Schlegel’s comments were prompted by Bitcoin initiative.
Without Bitcoin, Swiss National Bank investments have grown nearly 10% since 2015. A 1% Bitcoin allocation in the central bank portfolio has almost doubled the return at the same time, according to a Bitcoin portfolio simulation. The annual volatility can only rise a little.
The Bitcoin initiative emphasized that the volatility of Bitcoin should not be evaluated in separation, but in terms of its influence on the overall dynamics and performance of the investment portfolio.
“The price of Bitcoin) has reached new highs, it showed stability under the stress in the market, and it continued to be liquid with trade volumes in double digit billion -billions, day -day and night, even at bank holidays,” said Luzius Meisser, a member of the Bitcoin Bitcoin Board’s initiative and member of the Bitcoin Board.
“The Bitcoin network remains one of the most reliable and safe IT systems created. And most noticing -noticing, the United States has begun a strategic stockpile of Bitcoin.”
In an email statement to CoinDesk, Bitcoin’s initiative suggested that avoiding the Swiss National Bank in Bitcoin could be political, as it could be seen as “an expression of distrust of other currencies” and damage the delicate relationship between Switzerland and the European Union.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde continues to criticize Bitcoin, called it “No value“And a”Extremely speculative“Linked to the money laundering. In January, Lagarde said “I’m confident“That” Bitcoins will not enter the reserves of any of the central banks of the ECB’s general council.
That is in response to comments made by Czech National Bank Governor Michl Ales that his institution examines the addition of Bitcoin to its reserves. Lagarde argued that Bitcoin failed to meet ECB’s standard for liquidity, security, and safety from criminal associations.
In February, Central Bank of Poland ruled out “maintaining reserves with bitcoins under any circumstances” and the Romanian Central Bank Banks warned not to issue loans to crypto companies.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in December 2024 that the US Central Bank was “not allowed to have the owner of Bitcoin“Every Federal Reserve Act and not looking to change the law.
The Swiss National Bank has exposure to Bitcoin through stocks owned by corporate bitcoin treasury, including 520,000 strategy sharing, 8.12 million Tesla shares, 580,000 sharing Mara Holdings, and 500,000 Cleanspark sharing, such as the end of 2024 according to Fintel data.
Schlegel rejected calls to citizens to add Bitcoin reserves to Swiss Central coffee as recently Last month. When it comes to technology advances, Schlegel mentioned Thursday That SNB runs a pilot project using digital currencies to facilitate payments between financial institutions.
Conversely, US president Donald Trump signed a Executive order This year establishing a strategic Bitcoin and Crypto stockpile reserve, with a crypto council that will examine neutral budget methods to increase US digital reserves. Following -Following further prohibits government agencies from creating or promoting a central digital digital currency in the United States that are not in privacy concerns for citizens.
