Swiss National Bank Rejects Adding Bitcoin to Its Reserves
Swiss National Bank Chairman Martin Schlegel publicly rejected Bitcoin as a reserve asset while a national campaign sought a constitutional requirement for the bank to hold it alongside gold.
On April 25, 2025, Swiss National Bank Chairman Martin Schlegel rejected calls for the central bank to add Bitcoin to its reserves. Speaking at the SNB's shareholder meeting, he argued that reserve assets must remain highly liquid and stable enough to be bought and sold reliably, standards he said Bitcoin did not meet.
The statement came while a campaign was seeking a constitutional amendment that would require the SNB to hold Bitcoin alongside gold. Supporters framed Bitcoin as a hedge against changing global monetary and geopolitical conditions, while the central bank emphasized volatility and reserve-management constraints.
The episode documented an important countercurrent in sovereign Bitcoin-reserve debates. As political and civic campaigns increasingly pressed public institutions to consider Bitcoin, one of the world's best-known reserve-focused central banks stated directly why it was not prepared to treat the asset as official reserves.