Kingdom of Bhutan deposits $66m in Bitcoin on Binance

The Kingdom of Bhutan has moved Bitcoin to a centralized crypto exchange for the first time since July 1, according to Arkham data.

On October 29, Bhutan’s government transferred 929 BTC (worth over $66 million) to a Binance deposit address, slightly reducing its substantial crypto holdings. The transaction was made in two parts: initially, Bhutan moved 100 BTC (approximately $7.3 million) as a test transaction, followed by a larger transfer of 839 BTC (valued around $59 million).

Arkham, which began tracking Bhutan’s crypto holdings in September, revealed that the small Asian nation holds nearly $1 billion in Bitcoin.

Since 2023, Bhutan has made significant investments in BTC mining, generating over $750 million in Bitcoin in just over a year. The country’s investment department, Druk Holding & Investment, oversees its BTC reserves, making Bhutan home to the world’s fifth-largest sovereign-controlled Bitcoin stack.

The U.S., with 203,239 BTC; China, with 190,000 BTC; the United Kingdom’s 61,245 BTC; and Ukraine are the only governments with larger Bitcoin holdings than Bhutan.

Bhutan’s approach to acquiring BTC is particularly unique. Unlike countries such as the U.S. and China, which largely obtained their Bitcoin through seizures, Bhutan mined its Bitcoin using computing power, repurposing a former educational project for the task.

Despite transferring some of its holdings to Binance, Bhutan still retains 12,456 BTC, worth over $885 million as of the recent crypto market surge. With Bitcoin recently surpassing $71,000, analysts are predicting the possibility of the cryptocurrency retesting its all-time high of over $73,000 from March.

In addition to its Bitcoin holdings, Bhutan is estimated to own $600,000 in Ethereum and holds smaller amounts of other cryptocurrencies.