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If successful, the initiative will proceed to a national referendum to amend the Swiss federal constitution.
The Swiss citizens initiative is an attempt to include Bitcoin in Article 99 (Clause 3) of the Swiss constitution which presently requires some amount of the country to be stored in gold. Bitcoin enthusiasts have suggested that Bitcoin should be considered as an instrument similar to gold.
Consequently, this Switzerland amendment would entail only some changes in the wording of the constitution, yet it would have significant effects on Swiss fiscal measures.
Today we officially launched the popular initiative to add #Bitcoin to the @SNB_BNS Swiss National Bank’s balance sheet. https://t.co/Y40yh9pW3X
We will need the full support of our community to gather 100k signatures and make this a national referendum. Details will follow…
— Giw Zanganeh (@gzanganeh) December 31, 2024
The proposal has come at the right time given the increasing interest in BTC as a reserve currency despite fears by CryptoQuant CEO that it would not come to happen especially in the US.
Giw Zanganeh, the Vice President of Energy and Mining at Tether, revealed that the project has been published in the Federal Gazette and the signature collection can begin. After reaching the required number of signatures, the proposal will be forwarded to the Swiss Federal Assembly and then to a vote by the Swiss citizens.
Switzerland has been one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to the acceptance of cryptocurrencies. Since 2016, the canton known as Crypto Valley has allowed citizens to pay taxes using Bitcoin, making the region a fertile ground for blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.
The progressive policy of the country towards cryptocurrencies is another reason why such an initiative may be presented.
The Swiss citizens opine that incorporating Bitcoin into the SNB’s balance sheet would enhance Switzerland’s position as a financial innovation hub. Nonetheless, earlier efforts to incorporate Bitcoin into nations’ reserves, including the one by the crypto think tank 2B4CH in 2021, did not receive the desired approval.
The demand for Bitcoin reserves in Switzerland by the Swiss citizens is in tune with trends highlighted by Franklin Templeton. According to Franklin Templeton’s digital assets outlook for 2025, more countries will incorporate Bitcoin into their currency reserves.
‘’Bitcoin will continue to evolve to serve as a digital store of value as more institutions and countries integrate the asset.’’ Franklin Templeton said.
This growing acceptance is also visible in other countries. For instance, Donald Trump proposed a Bitcoin Reserve Strategy, German authorities and members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council have also lately suggested including Bitcoin in their respective currencies. The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States in the first half of this year has also helped increase institutional demand.
However, the initiative encounters numerous challenges even though the interest has been escalating. Switzerland being a neutral country does not often make changes to its constitution and the process is quite long and complicated.
The proposal has to be supported and getting 100,000 verified signatures within the time limit is rather a challenging feat.
Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the stability of the cryptocurrency, especially when considering it as a reserve asset comparable to stable and universally accepted assets such as gold. However, the supporters claim that due to scarcity and the lack of a central authority, Bitcoin is a perfect counterpart to traditional reserve assets.
Kelvin Munene Murithi
Kelvin is a distinguished writer with expertise in crypto and finance, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science. Known for his incisive analysis and insightful content, he possesses a strong command of English and excels in conducting thorough research and delivering timely cryptocurrency market updates.
Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
Crypto Market News: Following the recent legislation banning the use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) in Florida, the state’s Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday came out heavily in criticism of the Biden administration’s plans. Besides banning the issuance and use of CBDCs, the people of Florida will also be protected against the introduction of a soon to be launched Federal Reserve-issued digital currency. DeSantis explained how the CBDCs can be used for surveillance purposes and how the Federal government will be able to control the financial habits of the U.S. citizens.
Also Read: Top Crypto Presale Projects For 2023 To Invest; Updated List
On May 12, 2023, a bill was passed to propose to make it illegal under the Florida Uniform Commercial Code to treat any CBDC as a kind of legal tender. This essentially means Florida became the first state in the U.S. state to initiate legislative action against the implementation of CBDCs on its public.
Speaking in a Twitter Spaces that also had Billionaire Elon Musk in participation, the Florida Governor explained how the Biden government plans to weaponize the spending patterns of the people via surveillance of the CBDCs. In his initial remarks, DeSantis said Florida is the first state that said it does not recognize Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Quoting the US Federal Reserve’s stance on CBDC bill, the Governor said the Congress would not authorize the use of CBDCs.
“I don’t think Congress would authorize it (CBDC bill). We are trying to protect people from CBDCs in Florida. That would mean a huge imposition in people’s financial freedoms and financial privacy. If the central authority has control over it, they would start imposing environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.”
The crypto market community has also been opposing the implementation of CBDCs, as the central bank issued digital currencies would mean undermining of the trust in digital assets space.
Also Read: Bitcoin Likely Bullish Over US Fed’s Uncertain Outlook For Next Few Months
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
First Citizens has acquired failed bank Silicon Valley and will open former SVB branches today as First Citizens Bank and Trust Company.
According to the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation, First Citizens Bank is set to acquire the embattled state-chartered commercial bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). In a recent statement, the FDIC revealed that the bank holding company would acquire all deposits and loans of SVB. According to the deal, 17 former SVB branches will reopen as branches of First Citizens Bank and Trust Company. This development takes effect today, March 27th, with all SVB depositors, automatically becoming depositors of First Citizens Bank.
Just over two weeks ago, Silicon Valley reported roughly $167 billion in assets and approximately $119 billion in deposits.
The deal to acquire SVB saw First Citizens and the FDIC enter into a “loss-share transaction.” This agreement sees the government corporation absorb part of the losses on a certain pool of assets. As the FDIC explained:
“The loss–share transaction is projected to maximize recoveries on the assets by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction is also expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers.”
The FDIC also revealed that First Citizens would acquire approximately $72 billion of Silicon Valley assets at a $16.5 billion discount. Furthermore, an additional $90 billion worth of securities and other assets remain “in receivership for disposition by the FDIC.” The FDIC statement also disclosed that the government corporation “received equity appreciation rights in First Citizens BancShares common stock.” The potential value of these rights amounts to $500 million.
Initial estimates state that Silicon Valley’s bankruptcy cost the FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund around $20 billion. However, the exact cost will be established upon the FDIC’s conclusion of the receivership.
First Citizens’ chief executive officer Frank Holding Jr discussed its involvement with the FDIC, saying:
“We appreciate the confidence the FDIC has placed in us. First Citizens has a proud history of growing organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
The First Citizens CEO also added that he plans to enhance Silicon Valley’s business with private equity and venture capital firms.
It is unclear how many former clients of SVB will remain with First Citizens following the latter’s acquisition. This puzzle is valid because Silicon Valley lost several customers to other traditional and fintech neobanks during its chaotic bank run.
Several banks reportedly submitted bids or considered buying SVB following its collapse earlier this month. In the ensuing period, the FDIC, as the failed bank’s appointed receiver, tried auctioning it off. The process entailed two separate auctions for Silicon Valley’s assets, one for the bank’s traditional deposits unit. The other auction was for SVB’s private bank, which operated under its retail operations and served high-net-worth individuals.
Silicon Valley Bank sustained an insolvency crisis and eventually collapsed on March 10th after suffering a bank run. The bank’s demise makes it the second-largest bank failure in the United States and the most significant since the 2007/08 financial crisis.
SVB is also one of three US banks to suffer severe financial distress in March. The other two are Signature Bank and First Republic, with the former also collapsing while the latter entered liquidation. As it stands, a banking coalition led by JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) plans to rescue First Republic.
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First Citizens Bank acquires Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for $500 million. The crypto-friendly Silicon Valley Bank bank was worth $40 billion a year ago, now it’s acquired at a 99% discount. First Citizens BancShares will take over $119 billion in deposits.
First Citizens BankShares holding company of First Citizens Bank was in advance talks to acquire Silicon Valley Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) on Monday. The news of First Citizens acquiring SVB calmed investors’ concerns about the credit crunch and broader systemic banking crisis.
The 17 Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association branches will open as First–Citizens Bank & Trust Company on March 27, 2023, FDIC revealed in a new release. The FDIC also said First Citizens Bank & Trust Co will buy all of Silicon Valley Bank‘s deposits and loans from the FDIC.
Silicon Valley Bridge Bank had approximately $167 billion in total assets and about $119 billion in total deposits by March 10. The acquisition includes the purchase of about $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank’s assets at a discount of $16.5 billion. Moreover, the FDIC will continue to remain a receiver of $90 billion in securities and other assets.
According to the FDIC, the cost of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank to its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) is nearly $20 billion. The exact cost will be revealed after the termination of the FDIC receivership. Silicon Valley Bank was seized by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation on March 10.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin liquidity has dropped to a 10-month low. The liquidity represents how easy it is to buy and sell cryptocurrency. While the Bitcoin price has increased by over 70% since the beginning of the year, the current banking crisis, inflationary pressure, and uncertain macro environment resist BTC price at $28,000.
Bitcoin is currently trading in the zone of a very strong support wall between $27,170 and $27,970, where 1.45 million addresses bought over 700,000 BTCs. The BTC price is currently trading at $27,730, up 1% in the last 24 hours.
Also Read: Bitcoin (BTC) Liquidity Hits 10-Month Low, Expect More Volatility Ahead
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
American cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that it shall donate $1,000 in bitcoin (BTC) to each of the Ukrainian citizens who opened an account with the exchange before March 10, 2022. Overall, the total amount of funds that Kraken intends to donate to Ukrainians is over $10 million.
Kraken’s initiative aims at supporting the needy at a time when Ukraine is under attack by its neighbor, Russia. It is one among the worldwide support that Ukraine is receiving from the crypto community in terms of crypto donations the majority of the previous donations have been sent to crypto wallet addresses shared owned by the Ukraine government.
Kraken’s CEO Jesse Powell commented on the matter saying:
“We hope to continue being able to provide critical financial services in a time of need to both our clients in Ukraine and Russia. Cryptocurrency remains an important humanitarian tool, especially at a time when many around the world can no longer rely on traditional banks and custodians.”
Once the Ukrainian Kraken account holders receive their donations, they will be free to withdraw the funds immediately. Besides the $1000 donation in bitcoin, Kraken shall also be distributing $1000 Kraken Fee Credits to allow the beneficiaries of the donations to make conversions at zero cost.
Kraken went ahead and explained that the $10 million worth of bitcoin that it wishes to donate to Ukrainians equals the total trading fees obtained from Russian-based clients within the first months of 2022. It is in a show of Kraken’s disapproval of the ongoing military operation in Ukraine and Kraken does not feel it is worthy benefiting from any transactions made by Russians.
Immediately Russia began its military operation in Ukraine, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov made a plea to the leading crypto exchanges to freeze all addresses belonging to Russian users.
Binance and Kraken did not however agree with the prime minister’s plea, with Binance arguing that “crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom,” and such a move would go against the core value of the industry. Binance also went ahead to say that a majority of those accounts belong to innocent individuals who are not for the war. Binance views of the cryptocurrency industry being about freedom were supported by Kraken.
Coinbase, on the other hand, went ahead and blocked about 25,000 addresses belonging to Russian clients supposedly connected to the ongoing war.
Amid the increasing mainstream crypto adoption, crypto-related frauds are also shooting through the roof. According to a recently published report by atlasVPN, Americans have lost upto $956 million, to investment-related crypto crimes this year from Q1 to Q3. This amounts to an unbelievable 277.8 percent hike in investment-related crypto frauds in 2021 as compared to last year. The reason behind this goes back to the stone-age saying, “with great power, comes great responsibility” and especially, since the decentralized industry remains unregulated while offering exceptional returns, the number of victims to crypto crimes also remain on a rise.
“Cybercriminals are using the buzz around cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse to trick people into investing in bogus projects that disappear after raising a hefty sum of money…investment-related crimes are on the rise due to countless projects in the crypto, NFT, and metaverse markets. This year, US citizens lost a staggering $956 million to these types of scams, representing a 277.87% growth YoY.”, according the report.
The crypto industry is categorised into multiple different parts, and so are cybercrimes related to crypto. One of such is the the DeFi hack frenzy which took over the market this year. The latest exploit was suffered by the DeFi protocol, BadgerDAO that lost $120.3 million to the attackers. According to blockchain security firm, PeckShield, the hackers took $117 million in Bitcoin, and the remaining funds were stored in a form of interest-bearing Bitcoin, i.e., a form of tokenised Bitcoin, and Ether — the native token of the Ethereum blockchain. The DeFi platform announced that it will be halting all smart contracts for the time being in order to prevent further withdrawals, without providing any timeline for resumption.
However, unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. The crypto community is being haunted by consistent DeFi hacks in 2021. Recently, the decentralized transaction protocol, BXH alerted its users about the $130 million exploit. Furthermore, earlier this year, the DeFi industry was hit with its largest Defi hack on Poly Network, that resulted in loss of assets worth more than $600 million. While Poly Network got lucky in retrieving all the stolen funds, not all platforms have experienced a sigh of relief this year.
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Brazilians’ zeal for cryptocurrencies was recently confirmed by their 2021 crypto purchases. The exclusive Central Bank report revealed that the nation’s residents have bought $4.2 billion worth of crypto since January 2021. The latest purchase was registered in the month of August, amounting to $496 million. However, the highest purchase of crypto actives was marked in May, when Brazilians bought $756 million in crypto. Since then, no month has been able to beat May’s record high of over $750 million.
“Since then these numbers have been falling (US$695 million in June and US$583 million in July), but they are still much higher than what was seen at the beginning of the year: in February cryptoactive purchases were US$386 million and in March, $357 million.”, stated the report that takes cryptocurrencies as part of the commercial balance of products.
Bruno Serra, the director of monetary policy of the Central Bank of Brazil spoke in a videoconference organized by the company Upon Global on Friday. He highlighted that the Brazilian investments in crypto actives abroad are potentially three times greater than in American shares. Furthermore, he asserted that Brazilians’ investment into crypto will only rise from this stage onwards. He notes that there is a potential to reach R$ 50 billion in crypto actives purchased by Brazilians.
However, Serra also mentioned Brazil’s inability to produce crypto in lieu of crypto production’s high energy consumption, noting the country’s one-way flow of cryptocurrencies in the present. He said, “It’s a one-way flow. Due to the cost of energy, Brazil does not produce crypto actives, it is just an importer”.
As Bitcoin maintains above $62K, it is attracting more government institutions with each passing. With this, El Salvador’s controversially authoritarian Bitcoin Legal Tender stance might have been a blessing in disguise for the citizens. While President Nayib Bukele continues to receive considerable backlash for his BTC legal tender decision, he has not given up the fight. Earlier this month, he revealed that country has even started Bitcoin mining using volcanic energy to tackle the issue of wasteful energy consumption.
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Brazil’s special committee of the Chamber of Deputies a ‘Bitcoin Bill‘ to legalize the use of $BTC in the country. The Federal Deputy of the country Aureo Ribeiro called Bitcoin a worldwide currency with the potential to change millions of lives.
Brazil
presented a bill to regulate #Bitcoin:
Bitcoin is a worldwide currency that will change the lives of millions
– Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro pic.twitter.com/8OCoNbgWTh
— Blockworks (@Blockworks_) October 4, 2021
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The recognition of Bitcoin by the Brazilian parliament is a big breakthrough towards global adoption as the country is the ninth-largest economy in the world.
The majority part of the bill however was focused on tightening regulations around crypto-related crimes where the penalty has been increased by two-thirds. Earlier, crypto money laundering was punished with 6-10 years of imprisonment, but with new regulations coming into effect, it would increase to 16 years. The approved bill would now be analyzed by the Plenary of the Chamber before being implemented.
“The new crypto regulations typify the crimes of fraud in the provision of services of virtual assets, creates the definition of virtual assets and deals with its regulation.”
The Federal Deputy claimed new regulations would improve investment opportunities as heavy fines and punishments would deter scammers. Ribeiro said,
“The market will advance and adjust in Brazil. There will no longer be profiteers using technology to deceive millions of Brazilians”
Bitcoin proponents in the West called the bill a great sign of crypto adoption, but Brazilians think otherwise. One of the citizens responded to a tweet claiming the new regulations are not a good thing as they levied heavy taxation on crypto and made banks the leader to make rules of the market.
“Hi, I’m a lawyer from Brazil and I don’t think it’s a good thing. They want to tax crypto and They want to the bank be the leader and say the rules. “
Hi, I’m a lawyer from Brazil and I dont think its actually a good thing. They want to tax crypto and They want to the bank be the leader and say the rules. This were In discussion last week
— Valéria Garcia (@garotacrypto) October 4, 2021
Apart from Brazil, Panama also introduced a bill to legalize the use of Bitcoin and Etheruem in the financial market. El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption as a legal tender has created a domino effect leading to several other nations such as Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay take an interest and think about following in the footsteps of the Central American nation.
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El Salvador has now marked its 10th day of bitcoin being legal tender in the country. This is a huge milestone that could not have been predicted to happen this soon. But as with bitcoin, everything is happening on an accelerated timeline. The country had introduced its own government-backed crypto wallet named Chivo in order to enable its citizenry to spend bitcoin in the country.
The adoption of this wallet was incentivized by the El Salvadoran government, which said that it was giving away $30 in BTC to every citizen 14 and above who downloaded the Chivo app. This announcement had come about a month before the law went into full effect and as of September 7th, El Salvador became the first sovereign nation to accept a cryptocurrency as legal tender.
Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course
One important point remained if the citizens of the country would actually assimilate into using bitcoin as a way of buying and selling. This is because BTC is not the only legal tender in the country. It operates alongside the U.S. dollar, which is already familiar to the residents. According to a recent tweet by President Nayib Bukele, it looks like El Salvadorans are adapting to using the crypto as legal tender just fine.
The president took to his Twitter account to announce that 17% of the country had now downloaded the government-backed Chivo wallet. This number translated to about 1.1 million citizens who have already downloaded the wallet.
This comes only 10 days after the country had officially started using BTC as legal tender. The president added that this number was despite the fact that 65% of all of the smartphones in the country do not support the wallet. Yet they were recording an impressive number of downloads.
Related Reading | While Broader Crypto Market Holds Its Collective Breath, Whales Are Loading Up On Bitcoin
El Salvador might not be seeing the smoothest transition to using BTC as a legal form of currency in the country but the current numbers show that its citizens are adjusting to the new normal. The $30 incentive for downloading the wallet is paid after a user registers and confirms their identity on the app.
Paying with bitcoin in El Salvador is getting easier as outlets implement bitcoin payments. Big franchises like McDonald’s and Starbucks have already begun accepting bitcoin payments on “Bitcoin Day.”
Another interesting fact about using BTC in the country has to do with the number of crypto ATMs currently installed. Data shows that just behind the United States and Canada, El Salvador now ranks third in the highest number of crypto ATMs installed. The government had installed crypto ATMs across the nation to facilitate ease of use.
BTC trading north of $47K | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Featured image from Bitcoin News, chart from TradingView.com
A recent poll by the Central American University (UCA), a Jesuit university based in El Salvador, revealed that the majority of Salvadorans are against Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender adoption in the nation. While the massive 67.9% out of the 1,281 surveyed, had displayed strong disagreement with the use of bitcoin as a legal tender. At the same time, 32.1% of citizens were merely okay with the decision.
UCA’s survey results conveyed extreme discontent of the citizens with the upcoming BTC legal tender in El Salvador. Where 9 out of 10 people remained uncertain about Bitcoin as a concept, and 8 out of 10 expressed distrust in the utilization of Bitcoin as legal tender. On average, 7 out of 10, discredited the policymakers’ decision and advised to revoke the BTC legal tender law.
“What we can see in this survey, in addition to this broad rejection of the implementation of bitcoin as legal tender, is that for the first time we found a significant disagreement between the population and decisions being made by the Legislative Assembly and the president,” Reuters cited the UCA dean, Andreu Oliva.
People are not only concerned about BTC use in daily life and grasping a functioning understanding of the system. Instead, Salvadorans are worried that BTC legal tender adoption may lead to increased economic polarization in the nation. The poll conveyed this issue and Salvador’s common man worries about the rich becoming rich and poor degrading furthermore after the BTC legal tender implementation. The people said that they think the main beneficiaries of this project will be the already wealthy and prosperous, such as foreign investors, the government, and business leaders.
“There is a lot of concern about the possible negative effects of using bitcoin,”, Oliva added.
While the public continues to disagree with BTC’s legal tender, El Salvador’s government is in the fifth gear to implement the crypto adoption. In the latest update, the nation’s legislative assembly announced that it has approved a new Bitcoin Trust worth $150 million. The Bill is focused on converting Bitcoin to US Dollar, along with further supporting the crypto infrastructure in the country.
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