Breaking News🔥 : Himalayan country Bhutan holds $780 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC)
First time, the Bitcoin industry became aware of the Bitcoin mining activities by Bhutan. The country is currently holding more than 13,000 Bitcoin.
Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia, located in the Eastern Himalayas between China and India. The population of this country is nearly 900,000. Bhutan and India share a “special relationship,” with India being influential in Bhutan’s foreign policy, defense, and commerce.
On 16 Sep 2024, popular blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shared details of the Bitcoin and other crypto holdings of the Bhutanese government, reporting that the country is currently holding more than $780 million worth of cryptocurrencies.
The Bhutanese government earned these Bitcoins from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by the Kingdom of Bhutan’s investment arm, Druk Holdings.
With this amount of Bitcoin, Bhutan became the fourth-largest Bitcoin-holding country. Other countries holding Bitcoin generally acquired it from seizures involving bad actors or Ponzi crypto projects, but Bhutan mined these Bitcoins directly.
According to information shared by Arkham, the Bhutanese government has established its Bitcoin mining facilities in multiple locations, with the largest being on the site of the now-defunct Education City project.
Bitcoin mining giant Bitdeer (BTDR) first disclosed in 2023 that it would work with the Bhutanese government to establish the country’s official Bitcoin mining operations. In 2024, Bitdeer confirmed that it was working on expanding Bhutan’s mining capacity to 600MW by 2025.
It is worth noting that Bhutan is highly dependent on hydropower, tourism, and agriculture for revenue. The gross domestic product (GDP) of this country was just under $3 billion in 2022, nearly half that of the Maldives. In short, the $780 million worth of Bitcoin held by Bhutan is a significant figure for the country.
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