Bitcoin’s place in the Czech central bank’s reserves remains uncertain as a senior official flagged legal and volatility concerns.
A debate over Bitcoin’s (BTC) place in Czech central bank reserves still lingers with board member Jan Kubicek voicing skepticism citing legal uncertainties and price swings. This comes even as the bank explores new asset classes, such as Bitcoin, as reported earlier this year by the FT.
Jan Kubicek, a board member of the Czech National Bank, said on March 18 that while the bank is analyzing new asset classes he remains “rather sceptical about Bitcoin.“
“We will assess different classes of assets. Bitcoin is just one of them. My position is rather sceptical about Bitcoin.”
Jan Kubicek
However, he noted that the cryptocurrency’s legal status remains unclear and that owning Bitcoin directly would require developing many new processes in accounting or auditing, for example.
“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.”
Jan Kubicek
According to Kubicek, the CNB’s study on expanding asset classes could be completed by October.
He also mentioned the possibility of investing in international corporate bonds, including equity indices such as technology stocks and property investment funds.
CNB Governor Ales Michl first raised the idea of adding Bitcoin to the bank’s reserves in late January, drawing interest from the crypto community but skepticism from policymakers. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, for instance, pushed back, stating that “reserves have to be liquid, that reserves have to be secure, that they have to be safe.”
