Bhutan Has Sold Over $110 Million in Bitcoin This Year. Its Mining Appears to Have Stopped
The Royal Government of Bhutan has become one of the most closely watched sovereign Bitcoin sellers of 2026. On Wednesday, Druk Holding and Investments, the state entity that built the country’s Bitcoin’s reserves through hydro-powered mining, moved 519.7 BTC worth approximately $36.75 million to two wallets, one of which Arkham Intelligence links to QCP Capital, the Singapore-based OTC trading firm that has been a recurring counterparty in Bhutan’s drawdown.
The transfer came less than a week after a $72.3 million move, bringing total 2026 outflows above $110 million. The pace has accelerated sharply. Bhutan moved $42.5 million across all of 2026 through March 10, then added $72.3 million in a single week before Wednesday’s transfer.
Arkham described the historical pattern as periodic clips of $5 million to $10 million, but the past fortnight has broken well above that range. The government has not explained the acceleration.
One plausible driver is the Gelephu Mindfulness City project: in December 2025, Bhutan pledged up to 10,000 BTC to fund the special economic zone. With holdings now at 4,453 BTC, the country holds less than half that commitment, raising questions about how the pledge will be met if sales continue.
A Miner That May Have Stopped Mining
Bhutan began mining Bitcoin in 2019 using surplus hydroelectric power from its Himalayan rivers, giving the reserve an effectively zero cost basis. At its October 2024 peak, the country held 13,295 BTC worth more than $1.4 billion, over 40% of Bhutan’s GDP at the time. The current 4,453 BTC represents a 65% decline in coin count.
More telling is the inflow side: Arkham flags no wallet inflow exceeding $100,000 in more than a year. For a country that regularly added mined coins to its reserve, that silence implies mining has probably stopped. If accurate, the dynamic has fully reversed, a sovereign that once accumulated at near-zero cost is now in pure liquidation mode with no new supply being added.
Market Implications
Bitcoin was trading around $71,167 at the time of the transfer, up 0.4% on the day, as risk assets recovered on reports of renewed US-Iran ceasefire diplomacy. Four on-chain indicators flagged by Glassnode and CryptoQuant point the other way: the Accumulation Trend Score sits near zero, whale transfer volumes have dropped to 2023 lows, and the Network Activity Index continues to decline.
Sovereign selling at this scale is structurally different from institutional or retail pressure, it tends to be price-insensitive and recurring, creating a persistent ceiling on recovery attempts. Unlike a fund manager responding to redemptions, Bhutan appears to be running a planned treasury drawdown that will continue regardless of price.
