Bhutan, which has less than a million people, is now the fourth-largest state holder of Bitcoin in the world. Arkham, a blockchain data company, says that as of September 16, the Kingdom has more than 13,000 Bitcoin tokens worth more than $750 million.
As of now, only the U.S., China, and the U.K. have more. Bhutan has passed El Salvador to take fourth place. CoinGecko says that governments hold more than 2.2% of all the Bitcoins that are in circulation.
Bitcoin Mining Boosts Bhutan
Bhutan has built up its Bitcoin stash through mining, while other countries, like El Salvador, got theirs through criminal seizures or normal sales. Arkham says that the South Asian country has increased the amount of Bitcoin mining it does since the beginning of 2023.
Bhutan used its mountainous terrain to its advantage when it set up several mining sites through its investment arm, Druk Holdings. One important project was turning an old part of Education City into a huge mining complex.
Bhutan hasn’t said that it wants to sell its BTC yet, but it’s still not clear what the government’s overall plan is for cryptocurrencies.
As the use of blockchain technology grows around the world, more countries are adding BTC to their official currencies. The coin is also getting more attention from central banks in places like Norway and Switzerland. Some people see this as a good thing for BTC, but others wonder if government ownership is in line with Satoshi Nakamoto’s original ideas about BTC.
As businesses like Arkham find more sovereign BTC reserves, the industry is left to wonder: Which governments own BTC, and what do they plan to do with it?
