Share this article
Swiss National Bank President Reportedly Dismisses Bitcoin as Reserve Asset
Despite Switzerland’s growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies, SNB's President dismissed them as a "niche phenomenon."
Mar 1, 2025, 6:31 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
What to know:
- Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Martin Schlegel dismissed the idea of adding bitcoin to the central bank’s reserves.
- Schlegel cited volatility, liquidity concerns, and security risks as reasons against the move.
- His words come as a Swiss citizens' initiative is pushing for the SNB to hold bitcoin and gold as part of its reserves.
Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Martin Schlegel has rejected the idea of holding bitcoin as part of Switzerland’s central bank reserves, citing a lack of stability, liquidity, and security, according to local media.
Speaking to the Tamedia group, Schlegel cited three primary concerns surrounding cryptocurrencies. The first one is their volatility, which he said makes them unsuitable for long-term value preservation.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
“Second, our reserves need to be highly liquid so that they can be used quickly for monetary policy purposes if needed,” Schlegel told Tamedia before pointing to a lack of security inherent in being software-based assets. “We all know that software can have bugs and other weak points.”
The Swiss National Bank President’s words come amid a growing debate in Switzerland over the nascent asset class. A recent initiative is pushing for a constitutional amendment requiring the SNB to hold bitcoin in its reserves alongside gold, the article said.
The initiative, launched in December and led by entrepreneur Yves Bennaim, does not go into details when it comes to the bitcoin allocations but specifies it should be built up from the bank’s earnings. It has 18 months to collect 100,000 signatures in a bid to trigger a nationwide vote on the topic.
Despite Switzerland’s growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies, with various Swiss banks offering customers cryptocurrency-related services, Schlegel dismissed the asset class as a “niche phenomenon.” Currencies, he told Tamedia, have already been in competition, and Schlegel maintained the bank is “not afraid of competition from cryptocurrencies,” citing the continued strength of the Swiss franc.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Here's what bitcoin bulls are saying as price remains stuck during global rally
It's about a lot more than "zooming out." Supply overhangs and investor "muscle memory" regarding gold help explain bitcoin's poor absolute and relative performance.
What to know:
- Bitcoin has failed so far to act as an inflation hedge or safe-haven asset, lagging badly behind gold, which has surged amid high inflation, wars, and interest rate uncertainty.
- Crypto advocates argue that bitcoin’s weakness reflects a temporary supply overhang, investor “muscle memory” favoring familiar precious metals and its correlation with risk assets, rather than a collapse in long-term demand.
- Many bitcoin proponents still see BTC as a superior long-term store of value and “digital gold,” predicting that, once traditional hard assets are overbought, capital will rotate into bitcoin, allowing it to “catch up” to gold.
Top Stories
