The Kingdom of Bhutan continued to liquidate its sovereign crypto holdings, moving 100 BTC worth $8.1 million on Tuesday, bringing its total Bitcoin sales in 2026 to more than $230 million, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.
"The key point is that these sales are being used to monetize gains generated through state-backed Bitcoin mining powered by hydropower, helping fund national development," Lacie Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, told Decrypt.
The recent transfer reduces Bhutan's reserves to approximately 3,119 BTC, valued at around $252 million, a sharp 76 percent decline from a peak of nearly 13,000 BTC in late 2024. Arkham Intelligence projects that at the current selling pace of roughly $50 million per month, the country's entire Bitcoin reserve could be depleted by September 2026.
The sales underscore a strategic shift for the Himalayan nation, moving from a "buy and hold" mining approach to actively using its crypto profits to fund long-term economic projects, most notably the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) special administrative region. This "hold and optimize" strategy could pioneer a new framework for how sovereign entities manage digital assets.
Unlike most sovereign Bitcoin holdings derived from seizures, Bhutan accumulated its reserves through a state-backed mining operation launched in 2019. The program, run by the sovereign wealth fund Druk Holding & Investments, capitalized on the nation's abundant and cheap hydroelectric power.
However, the economics of the operation changed significantly following the Bitcoin block reward halving in April 2024, which effectively doubled the cost of production. On-chain data shows that the last major mining inflow to Bhutan's wallets occurred over a year ago, signaling a pivot from accumulation to monetization as mining profitability declined.
The capital raised from the Bitcoin sales is directly supporting the development of Gelephu Mindfulness City, an ambitious economic hub in southern Bhutan. In December, the King of Bhutan pledged up to 10,000 BTC to fund the city's long-term growth.
GMC is now actively courting global firms, recently unveiling an accelerated licensing path for companies already regulated in major financial centers like Singapore and Hong Kong. New entrants are granted a corporate account with DK Bank, which offers multi-currency support and BTC-backed lending, with banking fees waived for the first six months.
"In most financial centers, getting licensed is only half the battle, getting a bank account is where companies get stuck," DK Bank CEO Yu Dong Zheng said in a statement. "We’ve removed that bottleneck."
The steady liquidation of its Bitcoin, mined at a near-zero cost basis, represents a strategic decision to convert digital asset gains into tangible infrastructure and economic development. For a nation with citizens to support and a new city to build, pure "HODLing" is a luxury it has chosen to forgo in favor of realizing profits.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
