Subscribe to Bankless or sign in
South Asian country Bhutan has quietly amassed $780M in Bitcoin, using hydropower to drive expansive mining operations across multiple sites.
What’s the scoop?
- Major Holdings Identified: Bhutan holds 13,011 BTC, valued at around $780.49M, according to
Arkham Intelligence — the 4th largest government holdings identified by Arkham. - Procurement Method: Unlike most governments, Bhutan’s BTC holdings are derived from
Bitcoin mining rather than asset seizures, managed by Bhutan’s national investment arm, Druk Holdings. - Sustainability Efforts: Bhutan's mining is powered by hydropower, further emphasized by a partnership with Bitdeer in 2023 to expand mining operations to 600 megawatts.
Bankless Take:
What proves most notable about Bhutan’s Bitcoin is that it accumulated these reserves through mining rather than enforcement actions. This places Bhutan among a slowly growing number of governments actively mining Bitcoin, like Russia, which recently passed a law to fully legalize cryptocurrency mining. This expansion comes as more countries band together to launch alternative payment systems like BRICs Bridge, potentially signaling a trend of countries increasingly viewing Bitcoin as a solution to this. Overall, if more governments launch mining operations, either for economic or strategic reasons, the shift could play a major role in Bitcoin’s future distribution and stability.
BREAKING: BHUTAN GOVERNMENT’S $750M BTC NOW ON ARKHAM
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) September 16, 2024
Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings are now labeled on Arkham. These holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by the Kingdom of Bhutan’s investment arm, Druk Holdings.
Arkham is the first to publicly identify these… pic.twitter.com/a8ScUNJJ9F
