Bitcoin in the SNB portfolio: Initiators continue to put pressure on
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) held its 117th ordinary general assembly on Friday. For the fourth year in a row, Bitcoin sneaked to the daily program. Luzius Meisser, Swiss crypto pioneer and representative of the Bitcoin initiative, once again presented the SNB the arguments for an investment in digital gold.
Under the name “For a financially strong, sovereign and responsible Switzerland (Bitcoin initiative)” a private committee launched a popular initiative in Decemberto hire the Swiss National Bank to invest in Bitcoin. Specifically, the proposal would change the excerpt of the Federal Constitution, which prescribes a currency reserve in gold. In addition, the SNB should keep part of the reserves in Bitcoin. The collective period runs by the end of June 2026. At this year's General Assembly of the National Bank, the co -initiative Luzius Meisser again took the opportunity to advertise the proposal.
Bitcoin as coverage in times of crisis
The two -minute speech briefly outlined the arguments for an investment in Bitcoin. On the one hand, the digital gold defied the adverse market phases of the past few years and reached new highs. This resistance and protection against a potentially impending dollar crisis make Bitcoin attractive for institutions such as the Swiss National Bank. In addition, the United States Already with the accumulation of a national reserve started. For Switzerland it would be better to be a “first” instead of “last” Mover.
Luzius Meisser's speech to a Bitcoin system / source: SNB-Livestream
In the speech, Meisser refers to the economic concept of an “Arrow security”. This describes a financial instrument that is only paid out under certain conditions and usually represents a bet on a single future event. For the Bitcoin expert, cryptocurrency is a bet on eroding trust in government papers and conventional currencies. The rising gold and Bitcoin courses underline this thesis, says Meisser. Conventional portfolio theory recommends a small allocation in such arrow securities in order to secure the risks of certain future scenarios.
Well-known counter-arguments of the SNB President
Martin Schlegel, President of the Directorate of the Swiss National Bank, rejected the arguments among the known preliminary walls. According to him, Bitcoin and other crypto-assets have “very, very high” price fluctuations. In addition, according to the SNB boss, there are concerns about market liquidity. The central bank must be able to buy and sell foreign exchange at any time – especially in times of crisis.
The initiative committee provides the refutation in a media release that is available. The supposedly high volatility and lack of liquidity is an advanced argument, especially since the liquidity of Bitcoin is moving to the trading volume at similar altitude as the German federal bonds. Within the last 24 hours, Bitcoin converted a volume of almost 20 billion USD. Even major transactions should be possible without further problems. The volatility, on the other hand, is in the size of technology shares that make up almost 30% of the SNB portfolio.
However, the impact on the overall portfolio is more important than the volatility of a single title. Appendix of a verifiable simulation shows Meisser that the annualized volatility of the SNB systems due to the addition of 1% bitcoin over the past ten years only has increased marginally from 7.35% to 7.47%. However, the increase in value almost doubled – from almost 10% to 18%. As a result, both political and economic arguments for a system in Bitcoin speak, according to the initiative committee.
