Yves Bennaïm, founder and chair of 2B4CH, a Swiss pro-Bitcoin think tank, is launching a popular initiative to amend the country’s constitution to allow its central bank to purchase and hold bitcoin. The initiative is also supported by Bitcoin Suisse President Luzius Meisser, who believes the bank should add bitcoin to its reserves.
A Reform for Bitcoin: Swiss Bitcoiners Seek to Empower National Bank to Purchase Bitcoin
The idea of Bitcoin as a reserve asset and hedge against geopolitical conflicts is taking shape. Yves Bennaïm, founder and chair of 2B4CH, a Swiss pro-Bitcoin think tank, is proposing to launch a popular consultation to change the constitution and include bitcoin as part of the assets that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) can hold.
The idea behind this proposal is to protect Switzerland’s sovereignty and neutrality and to shield the country from uncertainties in the economic arena. Bennaïm stated that the preparations for this initiative were already taking shape. In an interview with NZZ, he declared they were “preparing the documents that must be submitted to the State Chancellery to start the process.”
The proposed amendment would modify an article that states that the central bank “creates sufficient currency reserves from its earnings; part of these reserves is held in gold,” to read as “part of these reserves held in gold and bitcoin.”
Bennaïm is not alone in this crusade, as he has rallied the support of other bitcoiners in the country. Luzius Meisser, President of asset manager Bitcoin Suisse, will also push for this initiative during the next bank’s general assembly.
He stated:
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My statement also has a marketing component. But I really believe that Bitcoin should be part of the Swiss currency reserves.
A similar proposal was disregarded by the SNB in 2022 when Meisser and others suggested that the bank could buy Bitcoin at the expense of German bonds. At the time, Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the governing board of the SNB, stated that bitcoin didn’t fulfill the requirements to be a currency reserve. Nonetheless, proponents of this consultation bet that the recent approval of bitcoin ETF instruments in the U.S. and Hong Kong can change the bank’s stance.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoiners-seek-constitutional-reform-to-allow-swiss-national-bank-to-purchase-bitcoin/