Updated October 10, 2026. Rewritten to reflect that Bhutan’s tracked Bitcoin holdings have fallen sharply since their 2024 peak, with the government disputing that it has been selling. Earlier versions described the holdings as still growing; that is no longer accurate.
Bhutan, a Himalayan kingdom of fewer than 800,000 people, became one of the world’s largest government holders of Bitcoin, not by seizing it from criminals like most governments, but by mining it with its own hydropower. Since late 2024, though, blockchain trackers have watched most of that Bitcoin leave the government’s known wallets. Here is the full story as of October 2026.
How Bhutan built its Bitcoin
Bhutan’s rivers give it far more hydroelectric power than it uses, and much of it is normally exported to India. Beginning around 2019, the state investment company Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) used some of that power to mine Bitcoin, at a time when the coin traded around $5,000 to $10,000. Because the electricity was cheap and domestic, the country accumulated Bitcoin at a very low cost.
Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, which tracks wallets it attributes to the government, estimated that holdings peaked at about 13,000 BTC in October 2024. That put Bhutan among the top few governments holding Bitcoin.
Controversies along the way
In 2023, Forbes reported that DHI had done business with crypto lenders BlockFi and Celsius before both collapsed into bankruptcy. DHI said it had not suffered losses. The episode raised questions about transparency, because DHI is a state body that discloses relatively little about its crypto activities.
In December 2025, Bhutan pledged up to 10,000 BTC, then worth about $860 million, to support Gelephu Mindfulness City, a planned economic zone in the south of the country.
Where the Bitcoin went
Arkham’s data shows coins steadily moving out of Bhutan’s wallets since mid-2025:
- By April 2026, tracked holdings had fallen to about 3,774 BTC, more than 70% below the peak.
- By mid-May 2026, they were about 3,100 to 3,300 BTC, worth roughly $250 million. Arkham estimated that more than $1 billion in Bitcoin had left the wallets over the previous year.
- Arkham also said no meaningful mining income had reached the known wallets in over a year, suggesting mining may have stopped around November 2024.
Bhutan disputes the selling narrative. In May 2026, DHI’s chief executive told CoinDesk, “I don’t recall the last time we sold any BTC,” and said good rainfall and hydropower were keeping mining running. DHI did not explain the wallet movements. Transfers to custodians, lenders or over-the-counter desks can look like sales on-chain without being sales, so outsiders cannot be sure what happened, and the government has not published its holdings.
What Bhutan’s story teaches
- Cheap power is a real advantage. Mining with surplus hydropower let a small country accumulate Bitcoin at a low cost.
- On-chain data is powerful but incomplete. Analysts can see coins move but not always why.
- Transparency matters for public money. Without disclosures, citizens and markets are left reading wallet movements.
- Holding is a policy choice. Mining Bitcoin and keeping it are separate decisions, and Bhutan appears to have treated its coins as a fund to spend, not a permanent reserve.
Sources
- CoinDesk: Bhutan “doesn’t recall” selling any bitcoin (May 15, 2026)
- BeInCrypto: Bhutan offloads 70% of its Bitcoin as mining activity dries up (April 11, 2026)
- BeInCrypto: Bhutan cuts Bitcoin reserves by 60% (Q1 2026)
- Grafa: Bhutan disputes $1B Bitcoin selloff claims
This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial or investment advice. Wallet attributions come from third-party analytics and may be incomplete. DynamicACG does not endorse any cryptocurrency, platform or investment strategy.