Swiss Bitcoin advocates launch petition calling on National Bank to hold BTC reserves
3 min readA group of Bitcoin enthusiasts in Switzerland are making a new attempt to convince the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to add Bitcoin to its reserves. Their plan is to launch a petition to initiate a referendum to change the country’s constitution, which will require collecting over 100,000 signatures from Swiss citizens.
Yves Bennaïm, the founder and chairman of 2B4CH, a nonprofit think tank leading the campaign, believes that adding Bitcoin to the SNB’s reserves would protect Switzerland’s “sovereignty and neutrality” in an increasingly uncertain global landscape, as he explained to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) .
2B4CH is completing the preparations for the necessary documents
Bennaïm said that the organizational preparations for the committee and the necessary documents to be submitted to the State Chancellery have been completed, but the process is not without challenges.
The Swiss constitution stipulates that a referendum can only be held if at least 100,000 Swiss citizens sign a petition within 18 months. This requirement presented difficulties for 2B4CH during their first attempt in October 2021. At that time, they launched the “Bitcoin Initiative” with the aim of amending Article 99-3 of the Swiss Federal Constitution to allow BTC as a reserve currency.
With a population of 8.77 million in Switzerland, around 1.15% of residents need to support the petition by signing. Luzius Meisser, president of the Bitcoin-focused trading platform Bitcoin Suisse, who is supporting Bennaïm in this initiative, believes that the inclusion of Bitcoin in the SNB’s reserves would signal Switzerland’s independence from the European Central Bank and strengthen its neutrality.
Meisser will discuss the benefits of adding Bitcoin to the balance sheet
Meisser will have the opportunity to present the benefits of adding BTC to the SNB’s balance sheet during a meeting scheduled for April 26th. However, he will only have three minutes to make his case.
In the past, Meisser has tried to convince the central bank to invest 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.1 billion) in BTC every month in March 2022 as an alternative to German government bonds. Unfortunately, in April 2022, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan stated that Bitcoin does not meet the requirements to be considered a reserve currency.
Meisser argues that Switzerland would currently be 30 billion Swiss francs ($32.9 billion) richer if the central bank had followed his proposal in 2022. He also warns that delaying the move could lead to other central banks purchasing Bitcoin at significantly higher prices, putting Switzerland at a disadvantage.
The NZZ article discussing the petition received the support of Joana Cotar, a German politician and BTC activist who strongly opposes a digital currency backed by the European Union.
Hahaha.
Jap.
Genau das!#Freiheit, deshalb #Bitcoin https://t.co/gJwitYCmko— Joana Cotar (@JoanaCotar) April 21, 2024
As reported, Western Europe has emerged as the leading region in global crypto adoption, attracting a significant number of daily traders, ranging between 1.2 million and 1.5 million individuals.
Germany and France are at the forefront of activity in the region, while Austria has seen the largest annual growth with a notable 70% increase in user numbers.
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