The South Asian country of Bhutan is apparently a major Bitcoin holder with even more of the cryptocurrency than El Salvador.
On Sept. 16, onchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence pointed to a group of addresses holding 13,029 BTC (around $758 million), claiming it is the first to publicly identify Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings.
It added that these holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by the Kingdom of Bhutan’s investment arm, Druk Holdings (DHI).
Arkham’s data also reveals that Druk Holdings also holds 656 ETH worth around $1.5 million, along with a small amount of BNB (BNB) and Polygon (MATIC).
Royal Government of Bhutan crypto holdings. Source: Arkham Intelligence
Arkham added that it was able to corroborate the timeline of onchain mining activity with time-lapse satellite imagery of facility construction at the site of the now-defunct Education City project.
Bhutan’s gross domestic product is expected to reach $3 billion by the end of 2024, meaning that its reported BTC holdings represent around a quarter of its GDP.
According to a report in local media in early 2023, Bhutanese officials confirmed that mining using hydroelectric power began in April 2019 when the price of Bitcoin was around $5,000.
In May 2023, DHI partnered with Bitdeer to develop carbon-neutral mining operations in Bhutan. In April 2024, they unveiled upgrades to raise Bhutan’s mining capacity by 500 megawatts by the first half of 2025, increasing the total capacity to 600MW.
How it differs from El Salvador
Comparatively, El Salvador started its Bitcoin acquisitions in September 2021 when BTC prices were $51,700.
According to the Nayib Tracker website, which tracks the country’s portfolio, it currently holds 5,875 BTC worth $331 million, around 45% of Bhutan’s holdings.
Moreover, these were acquired at a much higher price, with an average dollar cost of $43,900 and an aggregate profit of 32.6% for Central American country.
Related: Bhutan’s DHI to offset halving effects with Bitcoin mining upgrade
However, El Salvador also uses renewable power to mine BTC using geothermal volcanic energy.
Cointelegraph contacted DHI for further details but did not receive an immediate response.
Bhutan is a landlocked Buddhist kingdom on the eastern foothills of the Himalayas with a population of just 790,000. Comparatively, El Salvador has a population of 6.3 million.
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