Bhutan Trims Bitcoin Stack Again: 100 BTC Shift Underscores ‘Hold-and-Optimize’ Strategy

Bhutan isn’t dumping crypto so much as operationalizing a treasury playbook. The country shifted another 100 BTC—about $8.1 million—out of holding wallets on Tuesday, according to Arkham Intelligence, extending a measured sell-down that has defined the past year.

Onchain data shows roughly $230.39 million in Bitcoin has been sold since January, with monthly outflows tracking near $50 million. That cadence, if maintained, would deplete reserves before the end of September, Arkham estimates. Current holdings stand near $252 million, down from almost 13,000 BTC in late 2024 to roughly 3,100 BTC today—about a 70% drawdown from the prior peak.

The flow has not been linear. Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO, notes Bhutan’s sales arrive in waves rather than a steady drip—2,077 BTC worth $163 million in late 2024, a $100 million tranche in September 2025, then quieter stretches. In a market where Bitcoin trades near $80,500—off 0.3% on the day and more than 36% below the $126,080 all-time high, per CoinGecko—choosing when to tap liquidity matters. Against a backdrop of record cash piles at Berkshire Hathaway ($397 billion) and prominent investors warning of late-cycle exuberance, Levin argues that trimming around $80k could prove shrewd for a sovereign.

The deeper story is Bhutan’s cost basis and mandate. The kingdom built its position through state-backed mining launched in 2019, leveraging surplus hydropower. Mining at near-zero marginal cost transforms Bitcoin from a speculative bet into a cash-flowable reserve: every coin is effectively a low-cost inventory unit. Lacie Zhang of Bitget Wallet frames the current activity as active treasury optimization rather than capitulation—realizing gains harvested from mining, diversifying reserves, and still retaining core exposure.

That framing aligns with how sophisticated treasuries manage volatile assets: - Budget sales to fund domestic obligations—schools, salaries, and a new city—reducing the psychological pressure to chase rallies. - Opportunistically front-load or pause based on liquidity and price, treating Bitcoin as a liquid strategic reserve rather than untouchable “digital gold.” - Reinvest realized value into infrastructure that compounds future optionality.

Bhutan’s broader crypto program illustrates the last point. For Gelephu Mindfulness City (a Special Administrative Region in southern Bhutan), Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB have been designated as strategic reserves. In December, the kingdom pledged up to 10,000 BTC—about $1 billion at the time—toward Gelephu’s development. The policy scaffolding is getting built in parallel: an accelerated licensing track now lets globally regulated firms from hubs like Singapore, ADGM, and Hong Kong fast‑track approvals and secure integrated banking via DK Bank. DK Bank offers multi-currency accounts across nine currencies—including USD, EUR, SGD, and INR—with fees fully waived for at least the first six months for Gelephu-licensed entities. As board member and digital assets lead Jigdrel Singay put it, the aim is a platform where regulation, infrastructure, and execution line up from day one.

There’s risk in any sovereign timing the market. If Bhutan exhausts its stack by September and Bitcoin rips, the opportunity cost will sting. Yet the alternative—rigid HODLing while domestic projects go unfunded—carries political and economic trade-offs that private funds don’t face. When a nation’s cost basis is anchored by hydropower and its liabilities are fiat-denominated, scaling out in lumpy, liquidity-aware blocks can be rational. It’s a template other governments may study: produce BTC with energy advantage, monetize into strength, and recycle proceeds into regulatory rails and real-world buildout while keeping a residual position for long-term upside.