Swiss central bank bitcoin reserve push fails over signature shortfall

Swiss campaigners will drop a bid to get the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to hold bitcoin in its reserves after collecting only about half of the 100,000 signatures needed to trigger a national referendum.

The initiative sought to change Switzerland’s constitution so the SNB would hold bitcoin alongside gold and foreign-currency reserves. The group had 18 months to gather signatures and push for the country’s direct democracy to vote on the subject.

The Federal Chancellery listed the proposal as an amendment to the country’s Federal Constitution, requiring part of the SNB’s monetary reserves to be held in gold and bitcoin. The text did not specify an allocation.

The campaign had framed bitcoin as a neutral reserve asset and a hedge against exposure to dollar- and euro-denominated holdings. Supporters said those currencies make up roughly three-quarters of the SNB’s foreign-currency reserves, according to Reuters.

The SNB had already rejected the idea last year, when it opposed adding bitcoin to its reserves over concerns surrounding the cryptocurrency’s liquidity and volatility.