Aleš Michl, CNB Governor
The Bitcoin Conference 2026
Las Vegas, USA
28 April 2026
Good morning. Today, I want to talk about a strange combination: A central bank. And Bitcoin.
Most people do not put these two things together. I do.
In monetary policy, a central bank must be conservative. But it must think ahead.
When I became Governor of the Czech National Bank in mid-2022, inflation in my country was close to 20 percent. Twenty percent.
It was a serious moment. When I took office, I said we would bring inflation back to 2 percent within two years.
And we did. Not with magic. With discipline.
I said this clearly: Even before COVID, money was too cheap for too long. For too long, the system promoted borrowing. For too long, the currency was weakened.
We changed that. We kept policy tighter for longer. We supported saving. And the koruna became strong. That, for me, is conservative monetary policy. Our rule is simple: stay hawkish forever.
We also manage very large foreign exchange reserves. Very large. We manage about 180 billion dollars in reserves. That is about 44 percent of GDP. Relative to the size of our economy, our reserves are among the largest in the world.
So we have to build the right portfolio for the future.
Here, you can see the long-term risk and return. All in Czech koruna, the currency in which our books are kept.
Bonds are at the low end. Low risk. Low return. Stocks and gold can offer higher returns. But they also bring higher risk.
The next point is the Czech National Bank’s portfolio. Over the past four years, we increased the share of equities from 15 to 26 percent. We also increased the share of gold from almost zero to 6 percent.
We built a diversified portfolio. A higher expected return than before. Lower risk than an all-stock portfolio. And even lower risk than an all-bond portfolio.
But then came the next question. Can we do more? Can we build an even stronger portfolio for the future? This is where Bitcoin comes in.
The first time I used Bitcoin, I bought a coffee in Prague about ten years ago. Today, that coffee comes to about 350 dollars. It was the most expensive coffee of my life.
Bitcoin has had very high returns. But honestly, it looks risky. It is much more volatile than other assets. One day, its price may be much higher. Or it could go to zero. Yes, zero.
And that is true for other assets too. A stock can go to zero. Even a bond can fail. That is why it is not wise to bet on just one asset.
We have to think about the whole portfolio.
The next point on the chart is what we found in our new analysis. This is our model portfolio with 1 percent in Bitcoin. And here comes the interesting part.
With 1 percent in Bitcoin, the expected return goes up. And the overall risk stays about the same. That is what our new study shows.
Why?
Because Bitcoin has low long-term correlation with many traditional assets. It does not move in the same way.
And that matters.
When you add an asset like this, the whole portfolio can work better. The return can go up. And the risk can stay about the same.
That is diversification.
Over the long term, Bitcoin can provide returns that are not closely linked to other assets. In some ways, it is similar to venture capital. But it is much more liquid.
So we started a separate test portfolio with Bitcoin.
A test portfolio. Not a revolution. Not a political statement. A test.
We will run it for two years. Then we will publish the results. Then we will decide what comes next.
This is the future. Be conservative in monetary policy. Be innovative in how we work.
Thank you.
References
Adam, T., Michl, A., & Škoda, M. (2026). Balancing volatility and returns in the Czech National Bank’s foreign exchange portfolio: Update on gold and bitcoin. Research and Policy Note No. 1/2026. Czech National Bank.
Adam, T., & Michl, A. (2025). First test portfolio of digital assets at the CNB. cnBlog. Czech National Bank. November 13, 2025.
Michl, A. (2022). Policy for a strong koruna. CNB Discussion Forum. Faculty of Economics and Administration of Masaryk University, Brno. November 23, 2022.
Michl, A. (2025). Governor Michl’s thoughts on bitcoin – a test portfolio in CNB’s foreign exchange reserves. Czech National Bank.
Michl, A. (2023a). Inflation: The road to the target. University of Economics and Business, Prague. May 15, 2023.
Michl, A. (2023b). The road to the target II. CBA Assembly of Members. Czech Banking Association, Prague. June 15, 2023.
Michl, A. (2023c). The road to the target III. CNB Discussion Forum 2023. Tomas Bata University, Zlín. October 17, 2023.
Michl, A. (2024a). The target. CNB Discussion Forum, 2024. University of Pardubice, Pardubice. April 23, 2024.
Michl, A. (2024b). Taming inflation from 18 to 2% and paving the way for ESG financing. Central Banking Summer Meetings, London. June 13, 2024.
Michl, A. (2024c). Governor’s remarks at the 2024 Mexico City conference. Governor and Deputy Governors Panel Discussion, Central Banking Autumn Meetings, Mexico City. November 14, 2024.