Bhutan’s Bitcoin Holdings Double Those of El Salvador, According to Arkham

The small South Asian nation of Bhutan has emerged as a significant Bitcoin holder, reportedly surpassing El Salvador’s cryptocurrency reserves.

On September 16, Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics platform, identified a group of wallet addresses holding a total of 13,029 BTC, valued at around $758 million. This revelation marks the first public identification of Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings.

These assets are attributed to Bitcoin mining activities conducted by Druk Holdings (DHI), Bhutan’s state-owned investment arm. Additionally, Arkham’s data indicates that DHI possesses 656 ETH, worth approximately $1.5 million, along with smaller quantities of BNB and Polygon.

To support their findings, Arkham noted that they matched on-chain mining activity timelines with satellite imagery documenting the construction at the site of Bhutan’s former Education City project.

Bhutan’s economy, with an expected GDP of $3 billion by the end of 2024, sees its Bitcoin reserves comprising nearly a quarter of its GDP.

Local media reported earlier this year that Bhutanese authorities confirmed the country began using hydroelectric power to mine Bitcoin in April 2019, when Bitcoin was priced around $5,000.

In May 2023, DHI partnered with Bitdeer to enhance carbon-neutral mining operations in Bhutan. By April 2024, plans were unveiled to boost the country’s mining capacity by an additional 500 megawatts by mid-2025, bringing the total capacity to 600 MW.

How It Differs from El Salvador

By contrast, El Salvador began its journey into Bitcoin investments in September 2021, when the cryptocurrency’s price was around $51,700. According to the Nayib Tracker, a website monitoring El Salvador’s Bitcoin portfolio, the country currently holds 5,875 BTC, worth approximately $331 million, which is about 45% of Bhutan’s reported holdings.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin purchases were made at an average price of $43,900 per BTC, resulting in an overall profit margin of 32.6% for the Central American nation.

Like Bhutan, El Salvador also relies on renewable energy for Bitcoin mining, utilizing geothermal energy from its volcanoes.

Bhutan, a small Buddhist kingdom in the eastern Himalayas, has a population of about 790,000, while El Salvador is home to around 6.3 million people.

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