Bhutan's Bitcoin Goes From "Just HODL" to "Just Yield" 🏔️

Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a special administrative region in southern Bhutan, has awarded 3iQ Corp., a Toronto-based digital asset manager, a mandate to manage part of its bitcoin treasury using a low-risk, market-neutral strategy, the firms said in an email on Aug. 4. The arrangement marks a shift from holding the coins as a long-term national asset toward deploying the reserve for yield, with GMC declining to disclose the size of the mandate.

Under the strategy, returns would be generated through approaches such as basis trades and lending, a category that typically yields at least 5% annually in general market conditions. GMC did not specify whether any particular approach has been selected. Bitcoin was trading at $63,520.40.

The mandate follows a December pledge by Bhutan's king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, of up to 10,000 BTC, then worth about $1 billion, which was described at the time as a long-term national asset for the city's development, with collateralization, treasury strategies or holding all listed as options under consideration. The pledge has since drawn scrutiny after onchain data indicated roughly $1 billion had left wallets linked to Bhutan's sovereign fund. In May, CoinDesk reported that Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of the government's commercial arm Druk Holdings, said he did not recall the last time the company sold any bitcoin, disputing the onchain figures. Neither GMC nor 3iQ has stated where the bitcoin under management originates.

Beyond asset management, GMC said the deal is intended to create jobs for Bhutanese youth and build skills in technology and finance, adding that specific programs are still being developed.