Current Position & Biography
Aleš Michl has served as Governor of the Czech National Bank (CNB) since July 2022. The CNB is the Czech central bank and supervisor of the Czech financial market. Under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the CNB handles crypto-asset service-provider authorisations and supervision in Czechia. It is part of the European System of Central Banks; Czechia has not adopted the euro.
Michl is a Czech economist with a PhD in finance from the University of Economics in Prague. Before joining the CNB, he worked as an investment strategist at a commercial bank and co-founded an algorithmic asset-management fund focused on U.S. equities and the Czech money market. The CNB describes him as the author of academic and popular publications on economics and the popularisation of mathematics.
Notable Contributions
In January 2025, Michl proposed that the CNB analyse a bitcoin test portfolio. The Bank Board approved a separate digital-asset test purchase on 30 October 2025. The CNB subsequently announced a USD 1 million portfolio comprising bitcoin, a USD stablecoin and a tokenised deposit. The portfolio is held outside the CNB’s foreign-exchange reserves. The CNB says it is for practical testing of custody, security, settlement, accounting, audit and anti-money-laundering processes, and that its total volume will not be actively increased.
That experiment is distinct from a bitcoin reserve allocation. A February 2026 CNB research note says the Bank Board decided not to invest its foreign-exchange reserves in bitcoin at that time, while commissioning the small pilot to build institutional expertise. The CNB says it expects to share an overall assessment of the pilot in approximately two to three years.
MiCA implementation is another direct policy thread. Following the end of the transitional period on 1 July 2026, the CNB reported that it was processing crypto-asset service-provider applications, supervising authorised firms and taking action against entities operating without required authorisation. Its 19 October 2026 update said it had received five new applications since the transition ended. These are CNB institutional actions; they should not be attributed to Michl personally without evidence of his individual role in a specific decision.
In an April 2026 interview hosted by the CNB, Michl described the test portfolio as neither an endorsement nor a political statement. He also spoke on central banking and Bitcoin at the 2026 Bitcoin Conference; the Bank for International Settlements hosts the speech.
Why Katharos Is Following Them
Michl’s office connects two concrete developments: Czech implementation of the EU’s crypto-services framework and a central bank’s limited operational test of digital assets. Together, the CNB’s authorisation and supervision work and its separate pilot offer evidence about how policy rules and institutional controls are put into practice. The test portfolio also illustrates why testing an asset does not mean adding it to official reserves or endorsing it as an investment.
Areas to Follow
CNB crypto-asset service-provider authorisations, supervision and enforcement following the MiCA transition.
The scope of the CNB’s MiCA work, including the distinction between authorisations and formal notifications concerning crypto-asset white papers.
Updates on the digital-asset pilot’s USD 1 million volume, portfolio composition and expected two-to-three-year assessment.
The CNB’s operational findings on key management, custody, settlement, accounting, audit and anti-money-laundering controls.
Any future Bank Board decision on foreign-exchange reserves, kept separate from the test portfolio and from Michl’s public comments.
Reporting Scope
Attribute MiCA authorisations and supervisory actions to the CNB, and the pilot’s formal approval to the Bank Board. Do not suggest that Michl personally decides each licence or that the CNB supervises every crypto-related activity. Distinguish formal white-paper notifications from licences and from broader consumer protections.
The pilot is a USD 1 million test held outside foreign-exchange reserves; the CNB says the amount will not be actively increased. Do not describe it as a bitcoin reserve, a permanent allocation, investment advice or evidence of CNB endorsement. If citing the 2026 research note, describe it as authored research and note its disclaimer that the authors’ views do not necessarily represent the CNB’s official position.
Katharos Category
Policy & Regulation; Stablecoins & Payments
Photo Credit
“Guvernér ČNB Aleš Michl” © Tomas Nosil, published by Česká národní banka on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped and resized with neutral side padding; the 16:9 hero and centered card are adapted images released under CC BY-SA 2.0. No endorsement implied. Photograph taken 24 January 2019. Source photo and licence: Sources 10–11.
Source review: 6 November 2026.