Since the election of Donald Trump in the United States, bitcoin and its legions of supporters have been celebrating. Not a meal with friends goes by without the subject of cryptocurrencies coming up on the table. And it could not be otherwise with that of federal elected officials.
A new popular initiative, orchestrated by various figures in the crypto sector as well as UDF politicians, calls for the SNB (Swiss National Bank) to be forced to invest in bitcoin, as it does with other currencies. Because, until now, the BNS, which announced a juicy profit on Thursday, has always refused to take the plunge. “It is not a currency in the true sense of the term, but a speculative asset which does not offer the necessary security,” decided director Thomas Jordan during the 2022 general meeting.
Luzius Meisser, member of the board of directors of Bitcoin Suisse and member of the initiative committee, for his part declared, during this same meeting: “If I could decide, I would convert a billion euros into bitcoins at the end of each month.” Note that the initiative does not provide for an amount to be invested. In addition, Luzius Messier notes that acceptance of the initiative would allow Switzerland “greater independence”, particularly vis-à-vis the European Central Bank, the SNB holding “hundreds of billions of euros”.
National councilor Benjamin Fischer (UDC/ZH), a proven “cryptophile”, would find it “good that the SNB constitutes a reserve of bitcoins”. On the other hand, he does not support the initiative, believing that the bank “must be able to continue to decide in complete independence”. His colleague Céline Widmer (PS/ZH) flatly rejects the initiative: “Forcing the SNB to buy bitcoin through a popular initiative is completely absurd. It is highly speculative, risky and harmful to the environment.
Corina Gredig (VL/ZH) believes that: “The SNB decides on the basis of facts and stability criteria. If bitcoin were ever to meet these criteria, she might look into it. But that is his responsibility, not that of politicians.” And Peter Schilliger (PLR/LU) comments: “Bitcoin is a pure object of speculation with no assured counterpart. I think it would be wrong to force the SNB to do something that I personally would never do.”
