Czech National Bank Governor Aleš Michl announced that the central bank is testing the inclusion of Bitcoin in its reserve portfolio. Speaking at the Bitcoin 2026 Conference in Las Vegas, Michl revealed that a test portfolio containing approximately 1% Bitcoin is being evaluated to determine its potential benefits for the bank's foreign exchange reserves, which total about $180 billion—roughly 44% of the country's GDP.
Michl emphasized that the central bank's early research suggests a small Bitcoin allocation could improve portfolio returns without materially increasing overall risk, attributing this to Bitcoin's low long-term correlation with traditional financial assets. “Return can go up and risk stay about the same. That is diversification,” he said.
The governor placed the Bitcoin discussion within the broader context of the Czech National Bank's recent macroeconomic achievements. When Michl took office in mid-2022, inflation was close to 20%. Through tight monetary policy, the bank successfully reduced inflation to approximately 2% within two years. Michl described his approach as “stay hawkish forever,” emphasizing support for saving and a stronger domestic currency.
Over the past four years, the bank has already made significant changes to its portfolio allocation, increasing equity investments from 15% to 26% and raising gold reserves from zero to 6%. The Bitcoin test portfolio is the next step in this diversification strategy. Michl stressed that this is a test—not a revolution or political statement—and will run for two years. After that, the bank will publish the results and decide whether to include Bitcoin in official reserves.
Michl acknowledged Bitcoin's high volatility and the possibility that its price could rise substantially or fall to zero, but argued that similar risks apply to other assets like stocks and bonds. For a reserve manager, he said, the key issue is how an asset behaves within a diversified portfolio. According to the bank's working paper, a 1% Bitcoin allocation can increase expected returns while keeping overall risk roughly unchanged when measured in Czech koruna.
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $77,269.
