In an interview with Central Banking after delivering a keynote at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, Czech National Bank (CNB) Governor Aleš Michl said the bank's USD 1 million holdings of bitcoin, a USD stablecoin and a tokenised deposit on the blockchain are a test portfolio rather than an endorsement of digital assets or a decision to add them to reserves. The portfolio represents 0.0006% of CNB assets and will not change during the assessment period, while the bank is not seeking to trade short term price moves. Michl said CNB modelling indicated that a 1% allocation to bitcoin would increase expected returns while leaving overall risk unchanged because long term average correlation with many traditional assets was very low. He added that rolling correlations from 2011 to 2025 moved from highly positive to highly negative depending on the period studied, which led the board to test the asset rather than move to immediate reserve inclusion. He described bitcoin as closer to venture capital than to a safe haven or standard risk asset, and said a tokenised Czech koruna could perhaps in future have a place in reserves, while arguing that the country does not need a central bank digital currency because the payment system is already highly digitalised and the koruna will remain legal tender.
Czech National Bank 2026-04-29
Czech National Bank governor says USD 1 million digital asset test portfolio is not an endorsement and will remain unchanged
Czech National Bank Governor Aleš Michl said the bank’s USD 1 million in bitcoin, a USD stablecoin and a tokenised deposit is a fixed test portfolio representing 0.0006% of assets, not an endorsement or step toward reserve inclusion. Internal modelling suggests a 1% bitcoin allocation could raise expected returns without increasing overall risk due to low long‑term correlations, but he likened bitcoin to venture capital and said this supports testing rather than reserve use. Michl added a tokenised Czech koruna could potentially feature in reserves, while reiterating the country does not need a central bank digital currency given its highly digitalised payments and the koruna’s legal‑tender status.