TL;DR (70 words)
- Bhutan earmarked up to 10,000 BTC, about $1 billion, to finance Gelephu Mindfulness City without selling reserves.
- Funding will rely on lending, yield strategies, and disciplined holding, backed by national hydro mining that produced 13,011 BTC since 2021.
- GMC will be a Special Administrative Region; Bhutan moved its 800,000-citizen digital ID to Ethereum, expanded crypto tourism payments, and cited bitcoin near $87,274 plus $87 billion ETP inflows since January 2024.
Bhutan has put Bitcoin at the center of a nation-building blueprint, committing up to 10,000 BTC, about $1 billion, to fund Gelephu Mindfulness City without selling reserves. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced the allocation during his National Day Address, framing it as a generational investment aimed at youth employment and national prosperity in southern Bhutan. Rather than liquidate holdings, officials said the plan will use structured financing and publish implementation details in coming months, with guardrails emphasizing oversight, transparency, and preservation. The pledge channels BTC into development via lending, yield strategies, and long-term holding.
Bhutan Bets on Bitcoin for Development
Bhutan’s execution capacity rests on its hydro-powered mining model, converting surplus grid capacity into digital reserves without additional environmental impact. The report says the country mined 13,011 BTC since 2021 using excess hydroelectric power from Himalayan rivers, placing it as the world’s fifth-largest government Bitcoin holder. It also cited holdings exceeding 11,286 BTC valued at $1.28 billion. The same strategy was described as accounting for over 25% of Bhutan’s GDP, a striking metric for a small economy. Hydroelectric resources can exceed domestic demand, enabling the national power utility to convert excess capacity into long-term assets.
That balance-sheet posture is paired with ecosystem build-out, with GMC forming Green Digital Ltd to scale blockchain infrastructure and partner with institutional counterparties. The report says Green Digital recently partnered with Cumberland DRW on digital asset trading frameworks, sustainable mining expansion, AI compute facilities, and national stablecoin development. Separately, Bhutan migrated its blockchain-based national identity system from Polygon to Ethereum in October, enabling Verifiable Credentials and digital signing for 800,000 citizens. In May, tourism merchants began accepting more than 100 cryptocurrencies via DK Bank and Binance Pay. Most recently, it launched TER, a gold-backed token.
Gelephu Mindfulness City is positioned as an economic catalyst, a Special Administrative Region designed to attract international capital while preserving cultural values. The King said every Bhutanese should be a custodian, stakeholder, and beneficiary, supported by land policies that spread proceeds because most acreage remains state-owned. The article noted Bitcoin around $87,274, up 1.9% in Asian hours as exchange reserves hit record lows ahead of US inflation data. It also cited Bitwise and Grayscale forecasts for new highs in 2026 and $87 billion in net crypto ETP inflows since January 2024 as adoption accelerates globally.
