100k signatures can trigger Swiss national referendum on adding Bitcoin to country reserves

Bitcoin advocates in Switzerland have initiated a campaign to trigger a National Referendum urging the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to include the flagship digital asset in its asset reserves.

The campaign is spearheaded by Yves Bennaïm, the founder and chairman of 2B4CH, a nonprofit think tank, and enjoys support from Luzius Meisser, the chairman of asset manager Bitcoin Suisse.

Bennaïm said:

“We are in the process of completing the organizational preparations for the committee and preparing the documents that must be submitted to the State Chancellery in order to start the process.”

What next?

The referendum’s launch hinges on securing 100,000 valid signatures from Swiss citizens. Subsequently, all Swiss nationals will vote on the proposed constitutional amendment.

All of these processes could take as much as five years.

Meanwhile, Meisser will champion Bitcoin at the upcoming Swiss National Bank’s general assembly.

Notably, this isn’t Meisser’s first foray into advocating for Bitcoin. Previously, he proposed a similar action at the 2022 General Meeting, urging the bank to prioritize Bitcoin investments over German government bonds.

He estimated that had the bank heeded his advice, Switzerland would now possess an additional 30 billion francs.

In 2021, 2B4CH initiated the Bitcoin Initiative, intending to enshrine BTC as a reserve currency in the Swiss Constitution.

However, the process suffered some hiccups, which Bennaïm explained were caused by the timing and need for discussion. He said:

“The reason why it took some time since the original 2021 announcement was not the 100,000 signatures…we wanted to first discuss openly with the SNB and give them the opportunity to start adopting Bitcoin before moving forward with the official procedure.”

If the Bitcoin advocates’ plan succeeds, Switzerland could become the first country in the West to embrace the flagship crypto asset. However, it would trail behind El Salvador, a Central American country that has made substantial investments in BTC and adopted it as a legal tender.

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