Czech National Bank Bitcoin Reserve Proposal policy
Overview
In January 2025, Czech National Bank governor Aleš Michl proposed studying an allocation of up to 5% of the CNB's foreign exchange reserves into bitcoin, citing bitcoin's low correlation with traditional reserve assets such as bonds. The proposal drew international attention and pushback, including from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who said she was confident bitcoin would not enter the reserves of EU central banks. In November 2025 the CNB made its first digital asset purchase, a roughly $1 million test portfolio containing bitcoin, a US dollar stablecoin and a tokenized deposit, built inside the CNB Lab and framed as an operational preparedness exercise rather than an investment. Michl later presented the CNB's findings publicly, saying that adding around 1% bitcoin to the reserve portfolio raised expected returns without materially changing overall risk.
Within the DeFi Intel graph, Czech National Bank Bitcoin Reserve Proposal connects to 2 tracked entities, most strongly to Ales Michl, Czech Republic.
Relations
Top connections in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph (confidence-weighted, 2 of 2 total).
| Relation | Connected entity | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
proposed_by | Ales Michl | 95% |
governed_by | Czech Republic | 90% |
Frequently asked questions
Who proposed the Czech National Bank bitcoin reserve idea?
CNB governor Aleš Michl, who raised it in January 2025.
Did the CNB actually buy bitcoin?
Yes — in November 2025 it bought a roughly $1 million test portfolio containing bitcoin, a US dollar stablecoin and a tokenized deposit, run inside the CNB Lab.
How did the ECB respond?
ECB President Christine Lagarde publicly said she was confident bitcoin would not enter the reserves of any EU central bank.
Sources
Facts on this page were verified against the following sources.