Swiss National Bank chairman rebuffs bitcoin as reserve asset

BERN (Reuters) -The head of the Swiss National Bank said on Friday that cryptocurrencies failed to meet the institution's currency reserve standards, rebuffing calls by crypto advocates that it hold bitcoin as a hedge against growing global economic risks.

Cryptocurrency campaigners are ramping up pressure on the SNB to buy bitcoin, arguing that the economic turmoil triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs made it more important for the central bank to diversify its reserves.

They have launched a referendum campaign to change the Swiss constitution and require the SNB to hold bitcoin in its reserves alongside gold.

SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel, however, rejected the idea at the central bank's shareholder meeting in Bern.

"Cryptocurrency cannot currently fulfil the requirements for our currency reserves," he said.

Market liquidity was one concern, he said, as the central bank needed at all times to be able to buy and sell foreign exchange.

Cryptocurrencies also typically exhibit "very, very high" fluctuations in value, Schlegel said, which raised doubts about their ability to maintain the value of the SNB's currency reserves.

Schlegel's comments came after Luzius Meisser - a founder of the Bitcoin Initiative, which is pushing for the referendum - told the meeting that bitcoin was a "special asset" and a valuable alternative to traditional government debt.

"I have to admit it might not be worth much in scenarios that most of you consider normal," he said. "However, bitcoin will be worth a lot in the specific scenario of a multipolar world order with fading trust in government debt."

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Joe Bavier)

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