Despite recent decisions of the U.S. President Donald Trump to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, Martin Schlegel, President of Swiss National Bank (SNB), refused the idea of incorporating Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies into SNB reserves.
Schlegel cited several reasons for this. He said the cryptocurrencies are intrinsically unstable and therefore not fit to act as a store of value. He also highlighted liquidity issues; he said the SNB reserves have to be available at any time for use in monetary policy operations, a requirement he doesn’t think that cryptocurrencies can fulfill. Schlegel also brought up security concerns. He further mentions that since cryptocurrencies are software programs, they may be subject to bugs and other issues. This is in agreement with Schlegel’s previous comments, whereby he referred to cryptocurrencies as a “niche phenomenon” and raised doubts over their place within the mainstream financial system.
The SNB action follows the background of an upcoming populist proposal in Switzerland to compel the inclusion of Bitcoin in Swiss reserves. If supporters can gather 100,000 signatures by June 2026, the issue would be put to the country in a national referendum.
President Trump’s administration has, in the meantime, made giant strides towards embracing digital assets. Trump just signed an executive order to establish a government Bitcoin reserve to serve as a “digital Fort Knox.” The action involves keeping around 200,000 bitcoins confiscated in various proceedings, a huge shift from the U.S. government’s position on digital assets.
Despite these developments, Schlegel remains in his view that cryptocurrencies fail to meet the standards required to be qualified reserve assets of the SNB. According to him, reserves need to be able to hold their value, be highly liquid, and secure—requirements he does not see cryptocurrencies meeting yet.
