Silk Road

<h2 id="key-points">Key Points</h2> 
<ul> 
 <li>Bhutan government’s $750 million in Bitcoin holdings are now labeled on Arkham.</li> 
 <li>This is now the 4th largest government with BTC holdings on the platform.</li> 
</ul> 
<p>According to the latest reports, Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings are now labeled on Arkham.</p> 
<p>The country’s government reportedly holds $750 million in BTC and these holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by the Kingdom of Bhutan’s investment arm, Druk Holdings.</p> 
<p>Bhutan is a Buddhist kingdom on the Himalayas’ Eastern edge and it’s officially known as the Kingdom of Bhutan. Arkham is reportedly the first to publicly identify these BTC addresses for the government.</p> 
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone">
 <a href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1835712533854118072/photo/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GXnB-PtbkAAjVhm?format=jpg&amp;name=large" alt="Arkham via X" width="1600" height="926" title="Bhutan Is 4th Largest Government With Bitcoin Holdings at $750M 25"></a>
 <figcaption class="wp-caption-text">
  Arkham via X
 </figcaption>
</figure> 
<h2 id="bhutan-the-4th-largest-government-with-btc-holdings-on-arkham">Bhutan, the 4th Largest Government With BTC Holdings on Arkham</h2> 
<p>According to Arkham reports, Bhutan is now the 4th largest government with Bitcoin holdings on the platform, with over $750 million in BTC.</p> 
<p>They note that, unlike most governments, Bhutan’s BTC does not come from law enforcement asset seizures, but from mining operations, which have ramped up significantly since early 2023.</p> 
<p>By comparison, the German government’s Bitcoin holdings <a href="https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/07/09/germanys-sale-of-seized-bitcoin-could-be-dampening-btc-prices-further" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">came</a> from seizing BTC from Movie2K, a film piracy website in January 2024, while the US government also had about $2 billion in BTC holdings coming from seized Silk Road assets.</p> 
<h2 id="bitcoin-mining-operations-in-bhutan">Bitcoin Mining Operations in Bhutan</h2> 
<p>Arkham notes that Bhutan has constructed Bitcoin mining facilities in multiple locations, with the largest one being on the site of the now-defunct Education City project.</p> 
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone">
 <a href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1835712541567447233/photo/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GXnCXPracAAyzWo?format=jpg&amp;name=large" alt="Arkham via X" width="920" height="1290" title="Bhutan Is 4th Largest Government With Bitcoin Holdings at $750M 26"></a>
 <figcaption class="wp-caption-text">
  Arkham via X
 </figcaption>
</figure> 
<p>Arkham was reportedly able to corroborate the timeline of on-chain activity with time-lapse satellite imagery of facility construction.</p> 
<p>They listed the government transactions including the ones from three days ago until today.</p> 
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone">
 <a href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1835712537436025314/photo/4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GXnCvf1aIAAoCU9?format=jpg&amp;name=large" alt="Arkham via X " width="1672" height="1430" title="Bhutan Is 4th Largest Government With Bitcoin Holdings at $750M 27"></a>
 <figcaption class="wp-caption-text">
  Arkham via X
 </figcaption>
</figure> 
<p>Also, according to their notes, the government addresses have been sending funds to Binance and Kraken crypto exchanges, as shown via X:</p> 
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone">
 <a href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1835712537436025314/photo/3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GXnCuuJbYAAA0C6?format=jpg&amp;name=4096x4096" alt="Arkham via X" width="3360" height="1878" title="Bhutan Is 4th Largest Government With Bitcoin Holdings at $750M 28"></a>
 <figcaption class="wp-caption-text">
  Arkham via X
 </figcaption>
</figure> 
<p>It’s also worth noting that Bhutam has one-third of its GDP in Bitcoin, according to official data.</p> 
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone">
 <a href="https://x.com/naruto11eth/status/1835769794336804999/photo/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GXn24nDX0AAfWHA?format=png&amp;name=900x900" alt="Bhutan GDP" width="744" height="391" title="Bhutan Is 4th Largest Government With Bitcoin Holdings at $750M 29"></a>
 <figcaption class="wp-caption-text">
  Bhutan GDP
 </figcaption>
</figure> 
<p>This is reminiscent of another country mining and stacking Bitcoin, El Salvador.</p> 
<h2 id="el-salvador-s-btc-reserves-the-path-to-true-freedom">El Salvador’s BTC Reserves: “The Path to True Freedom”</h2> 
<p>Not too long ago, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood <a href="https://x.com/CathieDWood/status/1795602605017899338" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">stated</a> that El Salvador could see its gross domestic product increase tenfold over the next five years if it stays with its BTC and AI adoption plan under Nayib Bukele’s presidency.</p> 
<p>El Salvador became the first country in the world to use BTC as a legal tender in 2021.</p> 
<p>Recently, El Salvador’s President announced that the country would no longer rely on external debt to finance its upcoming national budget, an announcement that was <a href="https://x.com/stacyherbert/status/1835476816993095847" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">confirmed</a> by Stacy Herbert, the Director of the National Bitcoin Office under Bukele.</p> 
<p>She also said that the country is on the path “to true freedom.”</p> 
<p>In August, El Salvador <a href="https://crypto.ro/en/news/el-salvador-announces-1-6b-record-investment-for-bitcoin-city/">announced</a> a $1.6 billion record investment for Bitcoin City.</p>

Bhutan Is 4th Largest Government With Bitcoin Holdings at $750M

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