[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] A citizen campaign to have the Swiss National Bank hold bitcoin (BTC) as part of its reserves has been suspended due to a lack of signatures.

On May 9, local time, blockchain outlet Coindesk reported that the group behind the initiative collected only about half of the 100,000 signatures needed to call a referendum and decided to drop the plan.

The core of the proposal was to amend the Swiss constitution to require that part of the Swiss National Bank's monetary reserves be held in gold and bitcoin. The amendment text registered with the Federal Chancellery also called for part of the reserves to consist of gold and bitcoin. It did not specify what share would be allocated to bitcoin.

Switzerland's system of direct democracy allows national referendums to be held if a required number of signatures is collected. The group spent 18 months gathering signatures to follow that procedure but failed to reach the threshold. As a result, the attempt to put the question of including bitcoin in central bank reserve assets to voters did not proceed.

Supporters promoted bitcoin as a "neutral reserve asset" that could reduce concentration in the dollar and the euro. They also argued bitcoin could be used to hedge exposure to dollar- and euro-denominated assets. Backers viewed the share of dollars and euros in the Swiss National Bank's foreign exchange reserves as reaching about three quarters.

But the Swiss National Bank has already stated its opposition to the idea last year. The central bank cited liquidity and volatility issues as reasons for not including bitcoin in its reserves. It reflected a view that reserve assets must be usable immediately even in times of crisis, and bitcoin would struggle to meet that standard.

Against that backdrop, the outcome shows that efforts in Switzerland to elevate bitcoin to a national-level reserve asset failed to clear the institutional hurdle. The campaign set out a direction of holding bitcoin alongside gold, but failed to secure even the minimum political momentum needed for the referendum initiative stage.

The case also showed that discussions about including bitcoin in central bank reserves are difficult to drive on market logic alone. While the group stressed bitcoin as a "neutral reserve asset" and a hedge to reduce foreign currency exposure, the Swiss National Bank continued to cite liquidity and volatility concerns. As a result, the issue of the Swiss central bank holding bitcoin is unlikely to return to the official agenda in Switzerland for the time being.