A proposal is currently underway to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin.

A new proposal to constitutionally mandate the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet was introduced by the Swiss Federal Chancellor on December 31.

According to Giw Zanganeh, Tether’s Vice President of Energy and Mining, who helped launch the proposal along with Yves Bennaïm, founder and chairman of Swiss Bitcoin non-profit think tank 2B4CH, the proposal needs 100,000 signatures to be put to a public referendum. It is said that we will have to collect. 8 other Bitcoin advocates.

2B4CH has been preparing to submit documents to the Premier’s Office since at least April in a bid to resume attempts at a successful proposal after delaying its first submission in October 2021. At the time, the idea of ​​a country strategically holding Bitcoin (BTC) was not common. .

“We were waiting for the right time. Now everything is in place and that is why we will submit the documents and start collecting signatures,” Bennaïm told Cointelegraph.

The Bitcoin proposal for a “fiscally sound, sovereign and responsible Switzerland” was submitted on December 5 and officially registered in the Swiss Federal Official Gazette on December 31.

In particular, it is proposed to amend Article 99, Paragraph 3 of the Swiss Federal Constitution as follows:

“The national bank accumulates sufficient currency reserves from its own revenues. Some of these reserves consist of gold and bitcoin.”

Achieving this constitutional amendment was the main mission of Bennaïm’s 2B4CH.

Bitcoin supporters have until June 30, 2026, about 18 months from now, to collect 100,000 signatures.

Switzerland has a population of 8.92 million, meaning that about 1.12% of locals would need to sign the petition.

Bitcoin has already been widely adopted in the Italian-speaking city of Lugano, where the annual “Plan ₿” Bitcoin conference is held.

In the southern city of 63,000 residents, about 260 merchants accept Bitcoin, according to BTCMaps data.

But last month, SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel reportedly expressed concerns about Bitcoin being used as a payment method and the “huge amounts of energy” used to secure the network.

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The United States is the most notable country considering adopting Bitcoin. But unlike Switzerland, the Treasury Department will likely hold up a preliminary Bitcoin bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis if it passes.

Politicians in Brazil and Poland are also eyeing the idea of ​​setting up Bitcoin reserves.

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