On Tuesday, Jan Kubicek, a board member of the Czech National Bank (CNB), voiced concerns about adding bitcoin to the bank’s reserves, citing legal uncertainties and volatility of the cryptocurrency.
This comes as the bank considers expanding its reserve portfolio to include new types of assets, including bitcoin, which is among the options being evaluated. “We will assess different classes of assets. Bitcoin is just one of them,” Kubicek said in an interview with Reuters released on Tuesday. “My position is rather sceptical about Bitcoin.”
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Volatility and institutional adoption pose challenges
He emphasised that the legal status of digital currency remains unclear, and direct ownership would require the development of new processes in areas like accounting and auditing.
Kubicek also expressed concerns about bitcoin’s price fluctuations, noting that its future volatility may not follow past patterns. “We cannot be certain that Bitcoin’s volatility in the coming years will mirror the patterns observed over the past decade because I suspect that, if more institutional investors accept bitcoin as an investment asset, it will start to behave differently from what we have seen so far,” he explained.
The Czech central bank’s study on expanding its reserve assets is expected to be completed by October. The official mentioned that the bank is considering other options, such as international corporate bonds, targeted equity indices for technology stocks, and property investment funds.
Mixed reaction from Czech central bank policymakers
In January 29, 2025, CNB Governor Ales Michl proposed the idea of adding bitcoin to the bank’s reserves but the proposal faced pushback from other policymakers, according to a post on his official X handle.
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“We are also diversifying reserves—gradually increasing gold holdings from 0 percent to around 5% and planning for 30% in equities. An asset under consideration is Bitcoin.”
In contrast, the vice governor, Eva Zamrazilova, stated that bitcoin is not a suitable reserve asset, while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde emphasised that reserves must be “liquid, secure, and safe.”
The Czech central bank’s reserves, valued at 142.8 billion euros ($155.75 billion), account for about 45 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In recent years, the bank has diversified its holdings by gradually purchasing gold and increasing its equity investments.