Czech Central Bank Governor Backs Bitcoin Reserves at Bitcoin 2026

• Czech National Bank Governor Aleš Michl on Tuesday became the first sitting central bank governor to deliver a keynote at The Bitcoin Conference, where he argued for Bitcoin in central bank reserve portfolios.
• A new CNB study presented at the keynote found that a 1% Bitcoin allocation could lift expected portfolio returns while leaving overall risk roughly unchanged, owing to Bitcoin’s low correlation with traditional reserve assets.
• Michl’s stance directly contrasts with the European Central Bank’s view, which President Christine Lagarde has long argued rules out Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Czech National Bank Governor Aleš Michl on Tuesday became the first sitting central bank governor to deliver a keynote at The Bitcoin Conference, using the Las Vegas stage to argue that Bitcoin deserves a place in central bank reserve portfolios.

Speaking on the Nakamoto Stage at the Venetian Resort during Bitcoin 2026, Michl told the audience that he saw a clear role for the asset in modern reserve management.

“Central bank and Bitcoin, most people do not put these two things together. I do,” he said.

Michl, who took office in May 2022 when Czech inflation sat near 20%, said the central bank brought inflation back to 2% within two years through disciplined monetary policy. He told attendees that the CNB now manages roughly $180 billion in reserves, equivalent to about 44% of Czech GDP, and that building reserves for the long term requires looking beyond traditional assets.

The keynote’s central data point came from a new CNB study. According to Michl, a 1% Bitcoin allocation across the bank’s reserve portfolio could increase expected returns while leaving overall risk roughly unchanged, owing to Bitcoin’s low correlation with traditional reserve assets.

“This is the future,” he said.

The argument cuts against the European Central Bank’s stance. ECB President Christine Lagarde said in January 2025 that central bank reserves must be liquid, secure, and safe, and stated that she was confident Bitcoin would not enter the reserves of any EU central bank. The CNB sits within the European System of Central Banks but does not use the euro, retaining an independent monetary policy.

The keynote builds on prior CNB moves into digital assets. In November 2025, the central bank made its first-ever digital asset purchase, a $1 million test portfolio that included Bitcoin, a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, and a tokenized deposit. The CNB designed the portfolio inside its innovation hub, the CNB Lab, to test the operational realities of holding blockchain-based instruments. Michl framed it as preparedness rather than speculation, and the bank plans to publish a formal assessment in two to three years.

Štěpán Uherík, CFO of Prague-based Trezor, the company that produced the world’s first hardware wallet, responded from the conference floor.

“When a central bank governor stands in front of 40,000 people and says that 1% Bitcoin improves his portfolio, that is no longer a fringe position. That is a data-driven argument from someone who brought inflation from 20% to 2%,” Uherík said.

Michl’s argument arrives in a year of continued movement on sovereign Bitcoin policy. The United States now operates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve capitalized largely with forfeited assets, while Brazil and Pakistan have floated or announced national Bitcoin frameworks. Bhutan, in turn, has been steadily reducing its sovereign Bitcoin holdings through 2026.

Editorial Note: This news article has been written with assistance from AI. Edited & fact-checked by the Editorial Team.

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