Poland and Switzerland starts initiatives to obtain a ‘strategic Bitcoin reserve’

The United States’ plan to create a ‘strategic Bitcoin reserve’ is gaining traction in Europe as well. Last week Christian Lindner, the chairman of the German Liberal Party and the former finance minister, suggested a similar idea for Germany (which is organizing elections in February). By now, similar initiatives have also been launched in Poland and Switzerland.

Kremlin

At the end of December we learned that Russia turned a blind eye to the use of Bitcoin by its own companies in order to avoid the many Western sanctions. The Kremlin is thus following in the footsteps of El Salvador, where Bitcoin has for long been considered a legal means of payment.

Russia has not yet admitted that it wants to create a ‘Bitcoin reserve’ of its own, but it can be assumed that Russian companies will convert their rubles into Bitcoin in the future if the ruble continues to depreciate against major fiat currencies such as the Euro and the Dollar.

Referendum

In Europe too, more and more voices are calling for copying the plan for a ‘strategic Bitcoin reserve’, suggested by people in the new Trump administration (but still not confirmed by Donald Trump himself).

We, as Switzerland, now have the opportunity on a nation state level to vote for the future of this country. What does it entail? If we manage to gather enough signatures (100k). The Swiss then can vote if the Federal Bank can and has to add #BTC #Bitcoin to the balance sheet. pic.twitter.com/5CjtzgUJnX

— Kevkev (✸,✸) (@Kevkev_91) January 1, 2025

An initiative has been launched in Switzerland to hold a referendum this year which would oblige the Swiss Central Bank to purchase Bitcoin with its financial reserves. The group that wants to organize the referendum has 18 months to obtain the necessary 100,000 signatures, however it is generally assumed that they will obtain the necessary signatures within a few months.

Bitcoin is also a topic in Poland during their upcoming presidential elections (which will be held in May). One of the candidates, Sławomir Mentzen, has promised to copy Donald Trump’s plan if he is elected as Poland’s new president.