Key Highlights

  • Switzerland's Bitcoin reserve campaign collected around 50,000 signatures, half of the 100,000 needed to force a national referendum.

  • Organizers let the initiative lapse rather than fund a costly last-minute drive, citing limited resources and the technical complexity of the topic.

  • The Swiss National Bank has consistently opposed holding Bitcoin, citing price volatility and limited liquidity relative to traditional reserve assets.


A Swiss campaign to put Bitcoin on the central bank's balance sheet has ended without enough public support to reach the ballot. The initiative sought to amend the Federal Constitution to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin alongside its gold reserves. It collected roughly 50,000 signatures, about half the 100,000 needed to force a national vote, and has now lapsed.

The 18-month signature window closed without the campaign crossing the threshold. Organizers told reporters the effort had always been a long shot. Limited funding and the technical nature of the proposal made it hard to build the broad popular engagement that Switzerland's direct democracy system requires.

Switzerland's federal popular initiative process allows any group to put a constitutional question to a national vote, but the 100,000-signature requirement over 18 months filters out causes that carry industry support without broader public resonance. Organizers acknowledged that institutional interest in Bitcoin has grown substantially, but converting that into general-public engagement is a separate problem.

The Swiss National Bank has shown no interest in adding Bitcoin to its reserves. Officials have consistently cited the asset's volatility and liquidity profile as incompatible with a reserve manager's mandate. The SNB holds a substantial gold position and manages foreign exchange reserves across government bonds and equities in major currencies.

Campaign organizers said they may revisit the idea if conditions change, pointing to moves by several governments to hold or study Bitcoin as a reserve asset. For now, the Swiss initiative joins a short list of constitutional Bitcoin proposals that reached the signature phase but stopped short of a national vote.