Czech National Bank governor says bank is testing 1% BTC portfolio

Allocating 1% of a central bank's portfolio to Bitcoin can increase returns while maintaining a constant level of risk, said Aleš Michl, Governor of the Czech National Bank, at the Bitcoin 2026 Conference. He noted that BTC has value as a diversification tool due to its low long-term correlation with traditional assets. Michl explained that as part of its diversification, the Czech National Bank has increased its equity allocation from 15% to 26% and its gold holdings from zero to 6% over the past four years. He added that the bank is currently running a test portfolio that includes Bitcoin and plans to publish the results in two years, at which point it will decide whether to formally add the asset. The Czech Republic has maintained a hawkish monetary policy, successfully reducing its inflation rate from 20% in 2022 to the 2% range within two years.