Swiss Bitcoin Reserve Referendum Fails as Campaign Misses Signature Target

The campaign to force a national referendum on adding Bitcoin to Swiss National Bank reserves has failed after organizers missed the statutory signature threshold. The 18-month effort exposed the distance between cryptocurrency advocates and European monetary authorities.

The proposal would have amended Switzerland’s federal constitution to require the SNB to hold Bitcoin alongside gold and foreign currencies as part of its reserve assets. Campaign founder Yves Bennaim framed the initiative as a hedge against dependence on the dollar and the euro, arguing that Switzerland’s tradition of monetary neutrality made Bitcoin a logical addition to the central bank’s balance sheet. Bennaim dismissed liquidity concerns in comments to Reuters, citing “billion-dollar transactions that occur daily in international crypto exchanges” as evidence the asset class had moved beyond niche status.

The failure to gather the required signatures showed the gap between grassroots crypto enthusiasm and institutional skepticism. Swiss popular initiatives need 100,000 certified signatures collected within 18 months to trigger a binding national vote under the country’s system of direct democracy, which allows citizens to propose constitutional amendments if they clear the threshold. Organizers did not disclose the final tally. The collection window closed this week, roughly 18 months after the initiative was first tabled.

The Swiss result comes as the European Central Bank maintains its opposition to crypto in official reserves. ECB policymakers have said repeatedly that reserve assets must be “liquid, protected, and safe.” No eurozone central bank has signalled it would add digital assets to its reserves. The Swiss outcome will not shift that consensus.

Bitcoin has lost roughly 7.5 per cent against the dollar in 2026 to date, extending a 6.4 per cent decline in 2025, though the price remains above $80,000 on support from shifting US regulatory sentiment and geopolitical hedging demand. Bitcoin traded near $82,000 on Thursday, recovering from an earlier dip below the $80,000 mark. The referendum campaign launched during a period of stronger crypto market momentum and lost visibility as the asset’s near-term price performance softened.

In Switzerland’s own financial sector, crypto infrastructure continues to advance even as the political push stalls. AMINA Bank became the first FINMA-regulated bank to offer custody and trading for Canton Coin on May 6. The Canton Network, whose backers include Goldman Sachs, Visa, Citadel, and Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, is building blockchain-based settlement infrastructure for institutional use. Former Banque Syz SA banker Marc Syz is separately developing Future Holdings AG, a vehicle he describes as aiming to become “Europe’s leading Bitcoin treasury company” with plans for a future dual listing.

Bennaim said the campaign had achieved its goal of pushing Swiss authorities to evaluate the technologies reshaping finance, and signalled that a future initiative remained possible. The campaign’s backers are expected to assess what fell short in the signature drive before committing to another attempt. A new campaign would require starting the 18-month signature collection process from scratch. For now, the SNB’s reserve composition, roughly 90 per cent in foreign currency assets and 10 per cent in gold with zero crypto exposure, stays unchanged.