A Small Nation With A Big Bitcoin Strategy

On Monday, blockchain analytics firm Arkham flagged a transfer of 175 Bitcoin, worth roughly $11.85 million, out of Bhutan’s main government wallet.

The funds moved to an address created about a month ago, one that had already received 184 Bitcoin from state accounts. As of Tuesday, the coins had not moved again. No sale has been confirmed.

But the transfer fits a pattern Arkham has tracked for months. Data shows Bhutan tends to offload Bitcoin in batches of $5 million to $10 million at a time. The heaviest selling on record came in mid-to-late September 2025.

Back in February, a similar transfer preceded a $7 million sale to Singapore-based crypto trading firm QCP Capital.

How Bhutan Built Its Stash

The kingdom did not buy its Bitcoin on an exchange. It mined it. State-backed operations began in 2019, powered almost entirely by hydroelectric energy.

During summer months, Bhutan’s rivers run fast and full, pushing its hydropower plants into surplus. Rather than waste that extra electricity, officials directed it toward Bitcoin mining.

That strategy produced roughly 13,000 Bitcoin over several years, making Bhutan one of the larger sovereign holders in the world.

Arkham currently puts the country’s holdings at around 5,400 Bitcoin — a figure that reflects years of periodic selling. Among nations, Bhutan ranks seventh. The US holds the top spot by a wide margin, with 328,372 Bitcoin worth close to $22 billion.

The April 2024 halving hit the operation’s profitability hard. Mining rewards dropped to 3.125 Bitcoin per block, pushing up the effective cost of each coin produced.

Since then, Bhutan has sold more frequently, and some Bitcoin miners globally have shifted their computing power toward artificial intelligence and data center work instead.Druk Holding Manages The Portfolio

All of Bhutan’s digital assets — Bitcoin included — are managed by Druk Holding and Investments, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The portfolio also holds smaller amounts of Ether and a memecoin called KiboShib, which was reportedly generated by artificial intelligence.

What makes Bhutan’s position unusual is how grounded its crypto activity is in basic public finance. The kingdom is not sitting on Bitcoin as a long-term ideological bet. It is mining when the energy is cheap, selling when prices allow, and using the money to keep the lights on.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
source: https://www.tradingview.com/news/newsbtc:67532792e094b:0-bitcoin-worth-nearly-12-million-moved-by-bhutan-in-fresh-on-chain-activity/