The Czech National Bank (CNB) announced on 13 November 2025 that it has initiated a pioneering experiment by creating a $1 million test portfolio of blockchain-based assets, acquired outside its formal international reserves.
According to the CNB’s press release, the pilot portfolio includes three core elements: bitcoin, a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, and a tokenised dollar deposit on the blockchain.
The acquisition, which was approved by the bank’s Board on 30 October 2025, is intended to give the central bank hands-on experience with the technical, operational, and supervisory processes around digital assets.
CNB Governor Aleš Michl explained that the move stems from the expectation that future payment and investment systems will increasingly leverage tokenised and blockchain-based formats. “It is realistic to expect … one tap an espresso; with another an investment such as a bond,” Michl said, underscoring the broader vision behind the pilot.
Importantly, the bank emphasised that this portfolio will remain separate from its official international reserves, will not impact its macro-policy instruments, and that the total size will not be actively increased during the test phase.
The CNB plans to monitor and assess the results over the next two to three years.
Analysts say the experiment places the CNB among the first major central banks to directly engage with crypto assets in a controlled environment. Yet the bank remains cautious: despite the pilot, it has not committed to including such digital instruments in its reserves in the near term.
The move signals both curiosity and prudence as central banks explore the evolving terrain of tokenisation, stablecoins, and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.