Bhutan was found to own nearly $760 million worth of Bitcoin, surpassing El Salvador thanks to its hydroelectric Bitcoin mining operations.
On September 16, Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics platform, released surprising information about the huge amount of Bitcoin that Bhutan is holding. Accordingly, the Kingdom of Bhutan owns 13,029 BTC, worth about $758 million, through the Bitcoin mining activities of Druk Holdings (DHI), a state-owned investment company.
Arkham said it verified Bhutan's Bitcoin mining operations through analysis of onchain data and satellite imagery of the Education City project. The data also showed that DHI also holds 656 ETH ($1.5 million), along with small amounts of BNB and Polygon. With a projected GDP of $3 billion by the end of 2024, Bhutan's Bitcoin holdings are equivalent to about 25% of the country's GDP.
The Royal Government of Bhutan holds cryptocurrency. Source: Arkham Intelligence
Information about Bhutan mining Bitcoin using hydroelectric power has been mentioned by some local media since early 2023. This activity is said to have started in April 2019 when Bitcoin price was only around 5,000 USD.
In May 2023, DHI partnered with Bitdeer, a Bitcoin mining company, to develop carbon-neutral mining operations in Bhutan. In April 2024, DHI announced plans to upgrade its infrastructure, aiming to increase mining capacity by 500 megawatts by the first half of 2025, bringing the total capacity to 600 MW.
Compare that to El Salvador, which currently holds just 5,875 BTC ($331 million), nearly 45% less than Bhutan. El Salvador started buying Bitcoin in September 2021 at an average price of around $43,900. The Central American country also uses renewable energy, specifically geothermal energy from volcanoes, to mine Bitcoin.
