Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the UK and whether they will commission advice on this matter.

The UK’s foreign currency assets are held in the Exchange Equalisation Account. These assets are managed in line with the following investment principles:

• Ensuring readiness to meet the policy requirements of the reserves
• Limiting risk and volatility to avoid compromising the policy readiness of the reserves
• Maximising returns within these constraints

Bitcoin has been a historically highly volatile asset relative to stable fiat currencies like the US dollar, and commodities, such as gold. This volatility makes Bitcoin unsuitable as a reserve asset for the UK.

Given this, the Government has no plans to adopt a strategic Bitcoin reserve.