The first legal limit: the Swiss franc as the only legal tender

Monetary sovereignty in the Federal Constitution

The most fundamental limit on Plan ₿ lies in the federal constitution. Under Art. 99 para. 1 of the Federal Constitution, money and currency are a federal matter, and the Confederation has the exclusive right to mint coins and issue banknotes. The Swiss National Bank conducts monetary policy as an independent central bank under Art. 99 para. 2.¹ Cantons and municipalities have no competence in monetary matters. They can neither create a currency nor confer the status of legal tender on any means of payment. This is the constitutional reason why Lugano's programme had to take the form of a voluntary payment option with immediate conversion into francs.

The constitutional position was strengthened in 2026. On 8 March 2026 Swiss voters decided on the popular initiative "Yes to an independent and free Swiss currency with coins or banknotes (Cash is freedom)" and on a direct counter-proposal of the Federal Assembly. The initiative would have obliged the Confederation to ensure that coins or banknotes are always available in sufficient quantity and would have made any replacement of the Swiss franc by another currency subject to a vote of the people and the cantons. The counter-proposal inserted two sentences into Art. 99: a new para. 1bis, "The Swiss monetary unit is the franc", and a new para. 2bis, "The National Bank guarantees the supply of cash".² The initiative was rejected by 54.4 per cent of voters, while the counter-proposal was approved by 73.4 per cent and by all cantons.³ Since then the franc has been the national monetary unit by constitutional rule, and the principle that no other currency, whether foreign or private, can take its place without a constitutional amendment is beyond doubt.

The Federal Act on Currency and Payment Instruments

The statutory rules are contained in the Federal Act on Currency and Payment Instruments of 22 December 1999 (CPIA), SR 941.10.⁴ Art. 1 defines the Swiss monetary unit as the franc, divided into 100 centimes. Art. 2 lists the legal means of payment: the coins issued by the Confederation, the banknotes issued by the Swiss National Bank and sight deposits in Swiss francs at the National Bank. Art. 3 defines the corresponding duty of acceptance. Every person must accept up to 100 Swiss circulation coins, Swiss banknotes must be accepted without limitation of amount, and sight deposits at the National Bank must be accepted without limitation by those who hold an account there.⁵

The duty of acceptance in Art. 3 is not mandatory law. The cantonal government of the Grisons, answering a parliamentary question in 2023, stated that the rule on banknotes applies only where the parties have not agreed otherwise, and that shops may refuse cash if they announce their payment methods publicly, by virtue of the economic freedom guaranteed by Art. 27 of the Federal Constitution.⁶ Philipp Fischer, a lawyer interviewed by RSI in 2025 about a restaurant chain's decision to refuse cash, made the same point: a customer who enters a shop accepts the payment conditions displayed there.⁷ The dispositive character of Art. 3 cuts both ways for Plan ₿. It allows merchants to agree with their customers on payment in bitcoin, USDT or LVGA, but it gives those means of payment no legal force beyond what the parties agree.

Notes

1. Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 18 April 1999, SR 101, Art. 99 para. 1 ("Das Geld-und Währungswesen ist Sache des Bundes; diesem allein steht das Recht zur Ausgabe von Münzen und Banknoten zu") and para. 2 (independent central bank), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/1/10/101-99-117.html (text before the amendment of 8 March 2026). ↩
2. Cancelleria dello Stato del Cantone Ticino, Votazione federale dell'8 marzo 2026, Spiegazioni del Consiglio federale (opuscolo), https://www.ti.ch/fileadmin/can/votazioni/opuscoli/2026/20260308_Opuscolo_Votazione_federa le.pdf (texts of the initiative and of the counter-proposal: Art. 99 cpv. 1bis "L'unità monetaria svizzera è il franco"; cpv. 2bis "La Banca nazionale garantisce l'approvvigionamento in numerario"); easyvote, Bargeld und Währung (Italian factsheet), https://www.easyvote.ch/_Resources/Persistent/4/a/7/b/4a7b080eebb35cfd36b9abd52a14cfb03a3493 1a/GT_Bargeld%20und%20W%C3%A4hrung_IT.pdf. ↩
3. gfs.bern, Analisi VOX della votazione federale dell'8 marzo 2026 , summary, April 2026, https://vox.gfsbern.ch/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/it_zusammenfassung_vox_maerz_2026_de f.pdf. ↩
4. Federal Act on Currency and Payment Instruments of 22 December 1999 (CPIA), SR 941.10, Art. 1 ("Die schweizerische Währungseinheit ist der Franken. Er ist in 100 Rappen eingeteilt"), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/9/94/941.10-1-4.html, and Art. 2 (legal means of payment: federal coins, SNB banknotes, sight deposits in francs at the SNB), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/9/94/941.10-2-5.html. ↩
5. CPIA, Art. 3 para. 1 (up to 100 Swiss circulation coins), para. 2 (banknotes without limit) and para. 3 (sight deposits at the SNB without limit for every person who holds an account there), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/9/94/941.10-3-6.html; the rule on banknotes is also quoted in Governo del Cantone dei Grigioni, answer to the question Krättli concerning cash payments, February 2023, https://www.gr.ch/IT/istituzioni/parlament/PV/Seiten/20230215AnfrageKr %C3%A4ttli17.aspx. ↩
6. Governo del Cantone dei Grigioni, answer to the question Krättli (above). ↩
7. "È legale rifiutare un pagamento in contanti?", RSI, 2 February 2025, https://www.rsi.ch/info/dialogo/%C3%88-legale-rifiutare-un-pagamento-in-contanti--2543743.html (statements of Philipp Fischer). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.