The Kingdom of Bhutan, a landlocked small sovereign state in South Asia, holds more Bitcoin than El Salvador, and the massive treasury didn't come from seizures or purchases, but from mining the world's top digital asset.

Bhutan, nestled in the Himalayas, considers its fewer than 900,000 citizens’ happiness a better measure of the country's well-being than money. It is the second nation after El Salvador to officially hold BTC, in this case as part of the state-owned Druk Holdings fund.

As of September 16, 2024, Bhutan's bitcoin holdings have reached $750 million, making it the fourth-largest government holder on Arkham's platform. This positions Bhutan as a significant player in the global cryptocurrency market, especially considering its small population of less than 800,000.

Bhutan’s Bitcoin haul comes courtesy of Druk Holdings, the state-owned entity that has been aggressively expanding its mining operations. Through its partnership with mining giant Bitdeer, Druk Holdings has significantly increased its Bitcoin mining capacity.

Recent findings by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence showed that the Kingdom of Bhutan ranks fourth globally in terms of government holdings of Bitcoin.

Bhutan’s growing Bitcoin empire revealed, with over $780 million in BTC acquired through extensive mining operations powered by the nation’s renewable energy resources.

Bhutan quietly became the fourth-largest government to hold BTC. The recently identified wallet contains more than 13K BTC, accrued over a few years of mining.