Swiss Bitcoin Advocates Submit a Petition Demanding the National Bank Maintain Bitcoin Reserves

A group of Bitcoin advocates in Switzerland is stepping up its efforts to get the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to add Bitcoin to its list of reserves.

They want to collect more than 100,000 signatures from Swiss residents in order to organize a referendum that would attempt to modify the country’s constitution.

In an interview with the Swiss news outlet Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Yves Bennaïm, who is the founder and chairman of the non-profit think tank 2B4CH, expressed his belief that including Bitcoin in the SNB’s reserves would protect Switzerland’s “sovereignty and neutrality” in a world where global uncertainty is on the rise.

In their statement, Bennaïm said that the committee’s organizational preparations and the documentation required by the State Chancellery are nearing completion.

In order to hold a referendum in Switzerland, the Swiss constitution requires that 100,000 Swiss residents sign a petition within 18 months.

On their first try in October 2021, 2B4CH had problems with this criteria. The “Bitcoin Initiative” was established at that time with the aim of adding Bitcoin as a reserve currency to the Swiss Federal Constitution by revising Article 99-3.

Switzerland has a population of 8.77 million, which means that the petition needs the support of around 1.15 percent of the residents.

Luzius Meisser, who is helping Bennaïm with this endeavor, is the head of Bitcoin-focused trading platform Bitcoin Suisse. He thinks that if the SNB included Bitcoin in its reserves, it would represent Switzerland’s autonomy from the European Central Bank and strengthen its neutrality.

Meisser will have a chance to explain why the SNB should include Bitcoin in its balance sheet at a meeting on April 26.

As an alternative to German government bonds, Meisser has previously tried to convince the central bank to invest 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) monthly in Bitcoin beginning in March 2022.

Regrettably, in April 2022, SNB Chair Thomas Jordan supposedly said that Bitcoin didn’t qualify as a reserve currency.

According to Meisser, had the Swiss central bank implemented his recommendation in 2022, the country would be thirty billion Swiss francs ($32.9 billion) wealthier now.

Switzerland would be at a disadvantage if other central banks were to acquire Bitcoin at much higher prices, he adds; consequently, postponing the step is a bad idea.

German lawmaker and Bitcoin campaigner Joana Cotar has spoken out in favor of the petition and the NZZ story covering it. Cotar is strongly opposed to a digital currency supported by the European Union.

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