The governor of the Czech National Bank has floated the idea of holding billions of dollars worth of bitcoin in its reserves.
Traditionally fans of conservative assets, no Western central bank has so far moved to hold assets in the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency.
However, in an interview with the Financial Times, Czech National Bank (CNB) governor Aleš Michl has floated the idea of holding up to five per cent of the bank's €140 billion reserves in bitcoin.
Michl says that the election of Donald Trump, which has helped bitcoin's value double in recent months, could create an opportunity.
“Those [Trump] guys can now kind of create some bubble for bitcoin, but I think the trend would be an increase without those guys as well, because it’s an alternative [investment] for more people,” Michl tells the FT.
In a post on X, the governor adds: "An asset under consideration is bitcoin. It currently has zero correlation to bonds and is an interesting asset for a large portfolio. Worth considering. Right now, it’s only at the stage of analysis and discussion."
He plans to present the consideration of including bitcoin to the CNB's seven-strong board this week.
Michl's interest in crypto is a central bank outlier. Earlier this month, Bundesbank chief Joachim Nagel called bitcoin “digital tulips,” while South Africa’s central bank governor has last week dismissed the idea of a bitcoin stockpile.
Update: The central bank has approved the proposal to annalyse the options for investing in bitcoin.
In a statement issued after the board meeting, the CNB states: “The central bank has been increasingly diversifying its investments over the last two years as part of its reserve management strateg. At the proposal of Governor Aleš Michl, the CNB is to assess whether it would be appropriate in terms of diversification and return to include other asset classes in the reserves as well.”