By John Leville
BERN (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency campaigners have called on the Swiss National Bank to buy Bitcoin, saying the global economic turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs has made central banks more important to diversify their reserves.
Supporters launched a referendum campaign in December, changing the Swiss constitution, demanding that SNB retain Bitcoin in its reserves along with gold.
“We are pleased to announce that we are a member of the Board of Directors of the Cryptocurrency Broker Bitcoin Suisse,” said Luzius Meisser, board member of the Cryptocurrency Broker Bitcoin Suisse.
The purchase of Bitcoin will free the SNB from the political impact on the value of foreign currency ownership, three-quarters of dollars and euros, according to Meisser, who will speak at the SNB annual meeting in Bern on Friday.
“Politicians ultimately succumb to the temptation to print money to fund their plans, but Bitcoin is a currency that cannot be inflated by deficit spending,” he said.
Switzerland has emerged as a hub for blockchain and cryptocurrency innovation, with projects such as Ethereum being established in the town of Zug and known as “Crypto Valley.”
According to a survey by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 11% of Switzerland’s population currently invests in crypto assets.
However, SNB remains skeptical, citing massive price fluctuations, liquidity concerns and security risks. I don’t own Bitcoin.
“Cryptocurrency is essentially software, and we all know that software often has bugs and other vulnerabilities,” SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel told Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger in March.
Yves Bennaim, organizer of the Bitcoin initiative, said the technology behind Bitcoin is one of the most reliable and secure IT systems ever created and is constantly being improved.
Bennaim and Meisser both hold Bitcoin, but they said it doesn’t insist that it would boost their personal investments.
With a market capitalization of around $2 trillion, the global Bitcoin market is the most liquid and stable of digital assets, worth billions of dollars each day.
“We’re not saying – we’re going everything with Bitcoin, but like SNB, if around 1 trillion francs have a reserve, it makes sense that 1-2% of it is in the assets that everyone wants to own.”
(Reporting by John Leville, Editing by Mark Heinrich)