Bhutan Pledges $1B in Bitcoin to Build Mindfulness City

The pledge, detailed in the King’s National Day Address, transforms a portion of Bhutan’s sovereign digital asset reserves into the foundational capital for Gelephu Mindfulness City, an economic hub in southern Bhutan. Jigdrel Singay, a board director at GMC, clarified to Decrypt that the 10,000 BTC will be held explicitly for the city’s benefit, describing it as “both a reserve delegation and a proactive effort to generate yields from these BTC for the growth of GMC.” This approach marks a significant evolution in how nations view cryptocurrency holdings: not merely as a speculative treasury asset but as active, non-dilutive capital for national development.

Singay outlined that the specific financial strategy is still being formulated, with options including “collateralising the Kingdom’s BTC holdings, risk-managed yield and treasury strategies, and intentional long-term holding approaches designed to preserve and protect the value of its digital assets.” The core principle is to avoid selling the Bitcoin, thereby betting on its long-term appreciation while using innovative financial engineering to unlock liquidity for construction and job creation. This commitment is underpinned by a new land policy that treats Bhutanese citizens from all regions as shareholders in GMC, with the King stating, “Think of GMC as a company and landowners as its shareholders.”

This billion-dollar Bitcoin pledge is not an isolated gamble but the latest step in Bhutan’s years-long, strategic embrace of blockchain technology. The kingdom’s journey began with Bitcoin mining powered by its abundant hydroelectric resources. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, this strategy has been successful; Bhutan currently holds 5,984 BTC worth over $522 million, ranking it seventh globally among sovereign Bitcoin holders. This existing reserve provides a substantial foundation for the new GMC pledge.

In 2024 alone, GMC has accelerated its crypto-integration roadmap. The city designated Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), and BNB as strategic reserves. In May, it partnered with Binance Pay to enable cryptocurrency payments across Bhutan’s tourism sector. In a pioneering move for digital governance, Bhutan integrated its National Digital Identity platform with the Ethereum blockchain, becoming the first nation to anchor a population-scale identity system on a public ledger. Most recently, GMC launched TER, a gold-backed digital token on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, with DK Bank as the exclusive distributor. Singay framed this launch as demonstrating “how a crypto-friendly city can welcome responsible innovation while staying rooted in Bhutan’s values of transparency, sustainability, and long-term stewardship.”

The Gelephu Mindfulness City initiative, backed by sovereign Bitcoin, is framed as a project for national resilience and inclusive economic development. By leveraging digital assets, Bhutan aims to create an economic hub that generates jobs and prosperity while allowing its entire citizenry to share directly in the success. The model challenges conventional infrastructure financing, which typically relies on debt issuance or foreign direct investment, by using an appreciating digital asset held on the national balance sheet.

For the global financial community, Bhutan’s strategy presents a compelling case study in sovereign digital asset management. It moves beyond mere accumulation to active, value-preserving deployment. The focus on “strong oversight and transparent governance” for the Bitcoin reserves, coupled with experiments in tokenized real-world assets like the TER gold token, positions Bhutan at the intersection of traditional finance and decentralized innovation. As one of the first nations to make such a substantial, programmatic commitment of cryptocurrency to physical infrastructure, the success or failure of GMC will be closely watched by other governments and investors exploring the utility of digital assets beyond trading and speculation.