ECB Rules Out Bitcoin for EU Central Bank Reserves
The European Central Bank's president has confirmed at an official event that Bitcoin will not be added to EU central bank reserves, arguing the cryptocurrency does not meet the strict liquidity, predictability and legal safeguards required for sovereign holdings. The ECB framed the decision as a matter of prudence: reserve assets must be highly liquid and secure, standards the official said BTC currently fails to satisfy.
The announcement closes the door on any near-term prospect of euro-denominated reserves holding Bitcoin and gives clear guidance to institutional investors and national treasuries about the ECB's stance. While it does not affect private adoption or corporate treasury strategies, the ruling reinforces central banks' preference for government-backed instruments and could temper narratives of Bitcoin as a state-level reserve hedge, signaling limited public-sector institutional legitimacy for crypto in the EU for now.