Bhutan has sold 70% of its bitcoin in 18 months. It may have stopped BTC mining too.
The kingdom’s holdings have dropped from 13,000 BTC to 3,954 since October 2024, with $215.7 million moved out this year alone. Its last mining inflow over $100,000 was recorded more than a year ago.
What to know:
- Bhutan has quietly sold about 70 percent of the roughly 13,000 bitcoin it held in October 2024, reducing its stash to 3,954 BTC worth about $280.6 million.
- The kingdom appears to have slowed or halted its hydropower-backed bitcoin mining, with no major new inflows recorded in more than a year and no public comment from its sovereign wealth fund, Druk Holding and Investments.
- Bhutan’s liquidation contrasts with other major institutional and sovereign players that are adding to crypto and gold holdings, underscoring the economic strain on small-scale state bitcoin mining as prices, difficulty and halving pressures squeeze margins.
The transaction is part of a series of ongoing sales that have been going on for a while.
Bhutan held approximately 13,000 BTC in October 2024, accumulated through a hydropower-backed mining operation run by Druk Holding and Investments, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
That was the proof-of-concept for sovereign bitcoin mining. A tiny, landlocked country with cheap renewable energy, no legacy financial infrastructure to protect, and a sovereign wealth fund willing to experiment.
Since then, it has sold steadily. Holdings now stand at 3,954 BTC worth roughly $280.6 million, a 70% reduction in 18 months. Arkham data shows $215.7 million in bitcoin has moved out of Bhutan’s holding addresses this year alone, with $162.6 million of that going to unlabeled wallets.
The selling has accelerated into a market where virtually every other major holder is doing the opposite.
