 Bhutan economic hub to set up strategic crypto reserve 
2025-01-08
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A new economic hub in Bhutan plans to set up a strategic cryptocurrency reserve comprising major crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ether.
In a Jan. 8 announcement, Bhutan’s Gelephu Special Administrative Region (SAR), also known as Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), revealed plans to recognize digital assets such as Bitcoin BTCUSD, Ether ETHUSD and BNB BNBUSD as part of its strategic reserves.
Including digital assets in the GMC’s strategic reserves aims to enhance the jurisdiction’s economic resilience and offer new opportunities from its involvement in Bitcoin mining.
The announcement stated that the city administration expects to discuss its crypto strategic reserve plan with senior Bhutan government officials and global industry leaders in March 2025.
Not a Bitcoin-only strategic reserve
Unlike other global jurisdictions exploring Bitcoin-only strategic reserves, Bhutan’s GMC seeks to stash several established cryptocurrencies as part of its potential crypto strategic reserve.
“GMC intends to recognize digital assets with large market capitalizations and deep liquidity to ensure that they can be easily bought and sold with minimal price impact,” the administration said.
GMC will also look to recognize digital assets issued on “more mature, secure blockchains that support monitoring of onchain transactions,” it added.
GMC will take 21 years to be completed
The proposal comes soon after Bhutan announced a $100 million bond to start building the GMC project in November 2024.
The project is envisioned as an economic corridor linking South Asia to Southeast Asia and has executive autonomy and legal independence, according to King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
Officials said GMC will be built in phases and is expected to be completed in 21 years.
Bhutan already holds $1.1 billion in BTC
GMC’s crypto reserve announcement comes as the government of Bhutan already holds Bitcoin and other crypto assets through Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), a commercial arm of the royal government.
According to Arkham Intelligence, Bhutan currently holds 11,688 BTC ($1.12 billion) and 656 ETH ($2.2 million). Additionally, Druk holds small amounts on chains like Polygon, BNB Chain and Base.
According to Forbes, Bhutan has invested in Bitcoin since at least 2019, with significant chunks of BTC coming from local Bitcoin mining operations.
Collaborating with major crypto mining firms like Bitdeer, DHI is also known as a customer of troubled crypto lenders BlockFi and Celsius, reportedly investing millions of dollars in digital assets.