The Czech National Bank (CNB) has launched its $1 million crypto “test portfolio” pilot with the acquisition of Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins, and tokenized deposits. The initiative follows previous efforts to diversify its international asset reserves with cryptocurrencies. Czech Central Bank Launches Bitcoin, Crypto Portfolio On Thursday, the Czech National Bank (CNB) announced the creation of a $1 million “test portfolio” of digital assets to “gain practical experience” with holding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies while implementing and testing related processes over the next two to three years. In an official press release, the financial supervisor revealed that it had made its first-ever digital asset purchase, acquiring mostly Bitcoin and other undisclosed cryptocurrencies, including a USD-pegged stablecoin and a tokenized deposit. The purchase was approved by the Czech central bank board on 30 October 2025, following discussions of an analysis about potentially incorporating investments in other asset classes. The portfolio’s structure is set to “allow the CNB to compare various types of digital assets and their different properties” and test how to use, trade, keep them in their accounts, and audit these holdings. The Czech central bank stressed that the purchase occurred outside its current international reserves and that there are no plans to add Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to these reserves in the near future. The announcement also emphasized that the total amount invested “will not be actively increased.” However, smaller-scale operations “will continue to be made to test operational readiness in various market situations and maintain the CNB’s preparedness for executing transactions on this market.” CNB To Explore Future Of The Financial System The Czech National Bank explained that the project aims to “gain practical experience with blockchain-based technologies, which may fundamentally affect the operation of the financial and payment system in the future.” Based on this, the banking authority considers it appropriate to start testing and evaluating digital assets in depth, arguing that “only practice will reveal the details and difficulties of day-to-day operation,” including technical administration of keys and multi-level approval processes, crisis scenarios and security mechanisms, and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance verification. CNB Governor Aleš Michl shared that he initially thought of creating a test portfolio in January 2025 to examine decentralized Bitcoin from the central bank’s perspective and evaluate its potential role in diversifying their reserves. As reported by Bitcoinist, Michl proposed allocating up to 5% of CNB’s $146 billion in foreign exchange reserves to Bitcoin, amounting to roughly $7.3 billion at the time. Nonetheless, the CNB Board did not approve the Governor’s proposal. Now, he asserted that “new ways of paying and investing will emerge rapidly in the years ahead,” and it’s time for the Czech central bank to “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. As a central bank, we want to test this path. The central bank also unveiled the launch of another project, the CNB Lab innovation hub, aiming to oversee the testing of technologies and trends that could affect the functioning of the financial market and the conduct of monetary policy in the future. “In addition to testing digital assets and blockchain solutions, the CNB Lab will try out AI tools, support innovations in the area of payments – including instant payments – and run other projects related to the digitalisation of the financial sector,” the statement reads.
