Czech National Bank Dives Into Crypto: $1 Million Portfolio Mixes BTC, Stablecoins & Tokenized Deposits
A central bank just placed a million-dollar bet on digital assets.
The Czech National Bank is quietly running a live pilot, allocating funds across Bitcoin, dollar-pegged stablecoins, and a novel form of programmable bank money. This isn't theoretical research—it's a real-world test of how traditional finance infrastructure handles crypto-native assets.
Beyond the Press Release
Forget academic papers. The bank is moving capital on-chain, exploring settlement speeds, custody logistics, and regulatory gray areas firsthand. The portfolio construction speaks volumes: Bitcoin for the speculative store-of-value thesis, stablecoins for instant settlement, and tokenized deposits as a bridge to the legacy system.
The Real Test Begins
The experiment probes critical questions. Can a national bank's risk framework tolerate Bitcoin's volatility? Do stablecoins offer a genuine improvement over SWIFT? And does tokenizing a deposit actually create something new, or just digitize an old ledger with extra steps—a favorite trick of the finance industry to justify fees.
This pilot signals a profound shift. When a conservative institution starts trading digital assets, it's not just dipping a toe—it's testing the water for the entire system. The gates are creaking open.
Bank tests every part of crypto operations
Aleš said the idea started in January 2025 when he suggested testing how Bitcoin could function from the perspective of a central bank. That idea quickly turned into something bigger. After more talks inside the CNB, the test plan expanded to include USD stablecoins and tokenized deposits, as these assets also play a role in modern finance.
“The aim was to test decentralised bitcoin from the central bank’s perspective and to evaluate its potential role in diversifying our reserves,” he said. The CNB will run this pilot for two to three years and will keep the public updated throughout.
The full structure of the portfolio lets the CNB compare how each type of crypto works. That includes how to buy and store them, how to use them in transactions, how to record them in accounts, and how to check that everything matches up during audits.
The test also includes crisis simulations, multi-step approval processes, key management, security mechanisms, and checking compliance with anti-money laundering rules.
This crypto test won’t affect anything related to foreign exchange interventions or monetary policy. The money for this portfolio came from the CNB’s regular financial activities, not the reserves it uses to support the koruna.
Aleš swore that this is not a profit-seeking play. “It is important to emphasise that the value of bitcoin may fluctuate substantially. No investor should buy bitcoin without being aware of the significant risks involved,” he said.
The total amount in the portfolio will not go beyond $1 million, though the actual value may shift during the test depending on Bitcoin’s market price and how the test unfolds. It’s a one-time investment. The CNB said that any changes in price won’t affect its financial standing, since the size of the portfolio is too small to matter in the grand scheme of things.
CNB Lab starts trials on blockchain and AI tools
Alongside the crypto portfolio, the CNB has launched CNB Lab, a new innovation hub focused on experimenting with blockchain, AI tools, and payment technologies. Aleš said the goal is to prepare for changes coming to finance and monetary policy.
“The CNB Lab is intended as a platform to gather experience and insights from testing new technologies and trends. In addition to blockchain and digital assets, we will focus on AI tools and payment innovations,” he said.
The CNB Lab will work on improving instant payments, testing tokenized assets, and exploring how people might someday use the koruna to buy tokenized Czech government bonds and other investments as easily as buying a cup of coffee. Aleš said the CNB wants to help make that possible.
“Let’s be more forward-thinking, more visionary. It is realistic to expect that, in the future, it will be easy to use the koruna to buy tokenised Czech bonds and more besides—with one tap an espresso; with another an investment such as a bond or another asset that used to be the preserve of larger investors,” he said.
The bank will document every step of the process and use what it learns to build internal knowledge. Staff across different departments will be able to share insights and use the experience to support other financial innovations in the future.
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