- Bhutan is the world’s fourth-largest government holder of Bitcoin, at 11,700 BTC.
- The nation’s mining-powered Bitcoin reserves account for 26.9% of its GDP.
On December 9, Bhutan’s Royal Government transferred 402 Bitcoin (BTC) worth at $39.56 million to QCP Capital, according to blockchain analytics company SpotOnChain. The nation has been actively selling its Bitcoin reserves since October and the momentum has gained in the sales.
SpotOnChain reports that the government-linked wallet of Bhutan offloaded 1,696 BTC worth $139 million on average at prices of $81,999 per BTC since the recent price surge of Bitcoin. Binance and QCP Capital executed these trades.
Bhutan sent Binance 929 BTC in October, totaling approximately $66.16 million.This happened for the second major sale following Bitcoin’s jump above $70,000. Previously, in July, the government deposited 381 BTC worth at around $24.1 million in Kraken.
Bhutan currently holds about 11,700 BTC, worth $1.15 billion, in seven wallets. Druk Holding & Investments, the investment arm of the state manages the reserves. Bhutan sits fourth among countries in terms of government Bitcoin reserve holding.
Bitcoin Mining Drives Economic Growth in Bhutan
Bhutan’s bitcoin strategy stands out from other countries because it relies almost entirely on mining activities powered by massive hydroelectric energy. Bhutan started mining in the year 2019 when one Bitcoin was trading at $5,000 and has increased its reserves to account for 26.9% of the country’s $2.9 billion GDP in 2023.
The country is adding to its mining infrastructure, it is looking to expand its capacity by 500 megawatts by mid-2025, having a current capacity of 100 megawatts. A separate fund of $500 million was established in May 2023 with Bitdeer Technologies Group to step up efforts in other regions.
Although the worrying aspect of the current price of Bitcoin is alarming, long-term analysts have also been very optimistic about the prospects of this currency as Standard Chartered has predicted it for 200K by the end of 2025. All these also add to its positive outlook in the future of Bitcoin with the inflow of institutional investments, among them MicroStrategy’s recent Indeed, the same-growing interest from tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.
Bhutan has also entered the digital finance innovations arena. In 2021, it partnered with Ripple to convert its national currency into a digital version. The project is meant to enhance digital payments, cross-border transactions, and financial inclusion to weave cryptocurrency more intricately into Bhutan’s economic fabric.
Though the motives behind these recent Bitcoin sales are unknown, the nation’s mining and digital finance endeavors are surely strategic, to say the least, poised to make the country utilize cryptocurrencies in its economic advancement.
