Bhutan Cashes out $33.5B in Bitcoin, Still Holds $1.11B in BTC
The Royal Government of Bhutan has sold 367 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $33.5 million through major cryptocurrency exchange Binance. According to Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics firm that tracked the transaction, the sale occurred Thursday morning when Bitcoin reached an intraday high of more than $90,000, before later retreating to $87,000.
This latest sale makes the second significant Bitcoin sale for Bhutan in recent weeks, after one for $66 million upon Bitcoin's reach for $70,000. Combined, these sales totaled almost $100 million, yet the Himalayan nation continues as one of the bigger government Bitcoin holders with 12,206 Bitcoin still under management by Druk Holding & Investments, worth approximately $1.11 billion.
This contrasts with other countries' more common reported asset seizures, unlike Bhutan which mines Bitcoin with abundant hydroelectric resources. The country’s trading pattern reflects a certain level of strategic timing in the sale of its holdings, reflecting sophisticated management of its cryptocurrency.
Bhutan is fifth among countries holding BTC, after the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. Other nations are also benefiting from the current bull market. El Salvador, for example, one of the first countries to approve Bitcoin as tender, is using the surge as an opportunity to clean up some of its national debt burden and fund ambitious projects such as its planned Bitcoin City.
In the U.S., from Senator Lummis' ambitious bill to make Federal Reserve gold holdings into Bitcoin, to a Pennsylvania bill exploring the use of 10% of state funds for crypto as an inflation hedge, new legislation is cropping up all over, inspired by the state of Wyoming’s leading charge.
