Mountain kingdom of Bhutan is invested in Bitcoin

The tiny mountain kingdom of Bhutan has been secretly investing millions of dollars of value into the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. 

It’s been unearthed that another country has been investing into Bitcoin, and this country, the kingdom of Bhutan, has been doing so secretly through its $2.9 billion sovereign investment arm Druk Holdings.

The findings only came to light because Druk Holdings was disclosed as having invested in bankrupt crypto lenders Celsius and Blockfi, and according to an article on Forbes, over a three month period Druk had withdrawn more than $65 million and had deposited almost $18 million in cryptocurrencies.

For Forbes, there is uncertainty over whether Druk Holdings is or isn’t a bona fide sovereign wealth fund, but if it is, then it is probably the first such to be holding cryptocurrencies.

When El Salvador took the plunge and became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin, much to the displeasure of organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, it was striking out into the unknown on its own and without any allies monetarily.

There are arguably other countries in the world which would give much thought to going down the same path, but the pressure from governments like the US, and world financial organisations like the IMF, would be severe.

Therefore, it does come as some surprise that the Druk Holdings fund, which would appear to be inextricably tied to the Bhutanese kingdom, would be buying, selling, and holding cryptocurrencies.

Bhutan appears to be hedging its bets, as last year it partnered with Ripple in order to pilot its own central bank digital currency (CBDC). The vast majority of world governments are going down this path so if Bhutan does increase its crypto holdings, like El Salvador, it could become one of the leaders in this sector.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.