Swiss Bid to Mandate SNB Bitcoin Reserves Fails After Falling Short on Signatures
Summary
- A push for a referendum to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin (BTC) has effectively collapsed after the campaign failed to secure enough signatures.
- The campaign, which sought a constitutional amendment to hold Bitcoin alongside gold and foreign-exchange reserves as reserve assets, gathered only about 50,000 signatures, short of the 100,000 required.
- The Swiss National Bank has maintained a negative stance on including cryptocurrencies in reserve assets, citing price volatility and a lack of market liquidity.
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A campaign to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin as part of its reserves has effectively collapsed.
Reuters reported on May 8 that the Bitcoin Initiative plans to halt the campaign after failing to collect enough signatures to trigger a referendum on Bitcoin reserve assets.
Swiss authorities recently gave the group 18 months to meet the requirements for a constitutional referendum. The campaign sought to amend the constitution so the Swiss National Bank would hold Bitcoin alongside gold and foreign-exchange reserves as reserve assets.
With only a few weeks left before the deadline, the campaign had collected about 50,000 signatures. Swiss law requires 100,000 signatures to launch a referendum.
The Swiss National Bank has maintained its opposition to including cryptocurrencies in reserve assets, citing sharp price volatility and insufficient market liquidity.
The Swiss National Bank did not comment separately on the failure of the Bitcoin Initiative's referendum push.
JOON HYOUNG LEE
gilson@bloomingbit.ioCrypto Journalist based in Seoul
