SNB’s Jordan Sees ‘Good Reasons’ to Avoid Crypto Investments

(Bloomberg) — The Swiss National Bank isn’t inclined to invest its reserves in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, President Thomas Jordan said.

“We have so far not decided to invest in Bitcoin and for good reasons,” he told the central bank’s annual shareholder meeting on Friday in Bern. “Currency reserves are international means of payment, which need to be liquid, must retain their value and we must be easily able to buy and sell them.”

Swiss crypto activists have said that they intend to start campaigning for a constitutional amendment that forces the SNB to hold a part of its reserves in Bitcoin. If they manage to collect at least 100,000 signatures, Swiss law mandates that a national vote must be held on the issue. 

At the shareholder meeting, Luzius Meisser, the chairman of crypto investment firm Bitcoin Suisse, re-upped the demand, saying that “our reserves are essentially a time capsule to send value to future generations.”

A chief campaigner for the issue told Neue Zuercher Zeitung last weekend that preparations are under way to officially start collecting signatures.  

The Swiss constitution currently only stipulates that the SNB must hold a part of its reserves in gold. The campaigners want that clause to be changed to read “in gold and Bitcoin.”

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.