Bhutan sold off 70% of its Bitcoin reserves within 18 months, and the sovereign mining experiment may have been terminated

The Kingdom of Bhutan is continuously liquidating its Bitcoin holdings. As of October 2024, the Bhutan Sovereign Wealth Fund Druk Holding and Investments held approximately 13,000 Bitcoins, but now only has 3,954 left, with a market value of about $280.6 million, having reduced its holdings by about 70% over 18 months, and has transferred out Bitcoins worth $215.7 million just this year.

Meanwhile, Bhutan's Bitcoin mining operations also seem to have come to a standstill—on-chain data shows that its last mining revenue record exceeding $100,000 was over a year ago, and Druk Holdings has not disclosed any related information. Economic pressure is the main reason. Bhutan relies on hydropower resources for Bitcoin mining, which can remain profitable when mining difficulty is low and the price is above $90,000, but currently, Bitcoin hovers around $71,000, network difficulty has reached an all-time high, and after the halving, block rewards have dropped to 3.125 Bitcoins, significantly compressing the profit margins for small-scale sovereign mining.

Analysts believe that selling hydropower directly to India is more cost-effective than continuing to mine. Bhutan's reduction in holdings is in stark contrast to the direction of mainstream global institutions—Strategy invested $330 million last weekend to increase its holdings by 4,871 Bitcoins, and U.S. spot ETFs saw a net inflow of about 50,000 Bitcoins just in March. Bhutan's remaining holdings are even less than what Strategy typically purchases in a week.