April saw an uptick in efforts to establish a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve in Sweden. Within ten days, two members of the Riksdag – the Swedish Parliament – urged the country’s finance minister, Elisabeth Svantesson, to consider adding the cryptocurrency to the national holdings.
The more recent of the two was submitted on Monday, April 14, by Dennis Dioukarev, who urged the government to consider whether Sweden would be wise to follow the United States in adding BTC to its reserves to bolster its foreign currency and gold stockpile.
Instead of using taxpayer money to purchase Bitcoin, the MP also proposed that the Kingdom could follow America’s example and transfer digital assets seized as part of law enforcement action into more permanent custody.
According to the letter, Svantesson has until noon on April 23 to offer her reply.
Rickard Nordin urges holding Bitcoin as hedge against inflation
The other letter, sent on April 4, posed the exact same question, urging the ministry to allow Sweden’s Central Bank to establish a Bitcoin reserve. Simultaneously, MP Rickard Nordin’s text reflected on BTC’s role as a hedge against inflation and cited the efforts and proposals in other countries, such as the U.S.
Interestingly, Nordin also proposed that Sweden redirect seized cryptocurrency into a more permanent reserve. The April 4 letter is likely to offer some insight into the Swedish government’s thinking, as its reply deadline is set as April 16.
Is a Swedish strategic Bitcoin reserve imminent?
Despite the developments being interesting and providing an opportunity for a breakthrough in adopting Bitcoin into national financial strategies, tempering expectations remains important.
Though having two MPs ask the same question within less than two weeks can be seen as the idea of a BTC reserve gaining momentum, it is worth remembering that they constitute 0.57% of the Kingdom’s 349-strong Parliament.
In the U.S., President Donald Trump has made several moves toward establishing the reserve, but they have all been symbolic. Indeed, the biggest actual impact he has had so far is that the Federal Government has not been selling the Bitcoin it already owned, but that particular change has been effectuated even before the January 20 inauguration.
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