Bhutan’s investment arm owns over 13,000 Bitcoin, which is more than double what El Salvador holds.
Bhutan’s mining and hodling operations
Arkham Intelligence identified a group of addresses containing 13,029 BTC, valued at approximately $758 million, and these holdings are attributed to Bitcoin mining operations conducted by Druk Holdings, Bhutan’s own investment company.
The data also shows that Druk Holdings has 656 Ethereum, worth around $1.5 million, along with smaller amounts of BNB and Polygon.
The analytics firm confirmed the timeline of the mining activities by using satellite imagery to track the construction of facilities related to the now-defunct Education City project.
Mining development strategy for the country
Bhutan’s GDP is estimated to reach $3 billion by the end of 2024, meaning its Bitcoin holdings represent about a quarter of its GDP.
Local media reported that Bhutan began mining Bitcoin using hydroelectric power in April 2019 when Bitcoin was priced around $5,000.
The news didn’t make big hype btw. In May 2023, Druk Holdings partnered with Bitdeer to create carbon-neutral mining operations in Bhutan, and they also announced plans to increase their mining capacity by 500 megawatts by the first half of 2025. For comparison, their current capacity is 100 MW.
Bhutan or El Salvador, who doing it better?
El Salvador began accumulating Bitcoin in September 2021 when prices were around $51,700.
Based on the numbers from the Nayib Tracker website, which monitors El Salvador’s Bitcoin portfolio, the country now holds 5,875 BTC valued at $331 million, roughly 45% of Bhutan’s holdings.
El Salvador acquired its Bitcoin at a higher average price of $43,900 and has seen an overall profit of 32.6%.
It’s not bad at all, they have no reason for shame. And like Bhutan, El Salvador also utilizes renewable energy for its mining operations through geothermal volcanic energy.
This comparison highlights different styles to Bitcoin investment and mining between the two countries.
While both nations are leveraging renewable energy sources for their operations, Bhutan’s larger Bitcoin holdings relative to its GDP suggest a somehow stronger commitment to cryptocurrency as part of its economic strategy, even if the surrounding hype is much smaller.
