Bhutan has committed up to 10,000 Bitcoin, currently valued at around $1 billion, to support the development of Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a planned economic zone in the south of the country.
The commitment was announced on Wednesday and represents a direct allocation of sovereign digital asset reserves to a national infrastructure project. The government said Bitcoin will be reserved specifically for GMC and will not be sold as part of the initiative.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck referred to the project during his National Day speech, stating that the development aims to benefit citizens across the country and not just one region.
Under the plan, land linked to the project will be treated under a shareholder-style framework. Because most of the land is state-owned, the government said citizens in all districts will have a stake in the city’s long-term performance.
Bitcoin held for development, not settlement
GMC Board Director Jigdrel Singay said the Bitcoin allocation will remain reserved for the project and will be managed as a long-term reserve.
According to Singay, the government is evaluating multiple ways to utilize the holdings without selling them, including collateral-based structures, conservative yield strategies and treasury management approaches designed to preserve value over time.
No final structure has been selected and officials said decisions will be made in stages as the project progresses.
One of the largest sovereign crypto commitments to infrastructure
The allocation is among the largest known cases in which a government has committed digital assets directly to infrastructure development rather than treating them solely as financial reserves.
Bhutan has accumulated Bitcoin for several years, primarily through mining operations powered by national hydroelectric resources. The country currently holds 5,984 BTC, worth more than $520 million, placing it among the top sovereign Bitcoin holders globally, according to blockchain data.
This year, GMC formally designated Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB as strategic reserve assets. The city has also partnered with Binance Pay to enable cryptocurrency payments in parts of the tourism sector.
Separately, Bhutan integrated its national digital identity system with Ethereum, becoming the first country to anchor population-scale identity records on a public blockchain.
Recent digital asset initiatives at GMC
Last week, GMC introduced TER, a gold-backed digital token issued on Solana, with DK Bank acting as exclusive distributor. The token is positioned as a regulated digital asset linked to physical gold reserves.
Officials said the issuance aims to support controlled experimentation with digital assets while maintaining oversight and transparency standards.
The government said that all digital asset initiatives connected to the GMC will operate under defined governance rules, with an emphasis on long-term management rather than short-term market activity.
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