Cryptocurrencies do not meet the standards “that a good currency should have,” Martin Schlegel said in an interview published on Saturday in newspapers of the Tamedia media group.

They are “extremely volatile”, making them difficult to manage, while currency reserves “must be very liquid so that they can be used quickly,” said Schlegel, who has run the country’s Swiss National Bank (SNB) since Oct 2024.

The SNB intervenes frequently on currency markets to prevent the Swiss franc from appreciating.

He noted cryptocurrencies are a “niche phenomena” mostly used for speculation, and that they raised security issues because they “are basically just software”.

In Dec 2024, a popular initiative was launched – as is common under the Swiss system of direct democracy – seeking to require that the central bank’s monetary reserves include bitcoin, considered the most mature cryptocurrency.

Organisers of the initiative have until the end of June 2026 to collect the 100,000 signatures needed to hold a referendum.

On Friday, bitcoin fell below US$80,000 for the first time since November. It has now fallen more than 25% from the peak of almost US$110,000 it hit several hours before the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Jan 20.