Thunder Dragon Gets Cold Feet: Bhutan Ships Another $25M Bitcoin as Weekly Exits Hit 1,000 BTC

The Royal Government of Bhutan just couldn't hodl anymore. On Tuesday, the Himalayan kingdom transferred approximately 374.9 BTC ($25.2 million) to an unlabeled address, extending what's become a rather aggressive outflow streak.

The funds moved to an address starting with "bc1q0" at 7:28 a.m. UTC, per onchain analytics from Arkham, which began tracking Bhutan's crypto stash in 2024. Analysts at Onchain Lens spotted something interesting: the recipient address had previously sent bitcoin received from Bhutan to investment manager Galaxy Digital—raising the possibility the government might be taking some profits off the table. Or maybe they're just rebalancing. Nobody knows for sure, but if this is "rebalancing," I'd hate to see what panic looks like.

Either way, the weekly tally is getting spicy. Outgoing transfers from Bhutan's government-labeled addresses have now exceeded 1,000 BTC over the past week, according to Lookonchain. The latest dump adds to 519.7 BTC sent on March 25 and 123.7 BTC on March 27—including one address linked to trading firm QCP Capital. That's a lot of sats flying out the window for a kingdom known for Gross National Happiness.

The bitcoin sits in the custody of Bhutan's state investment arm, Druk Holding & Investments. And despite the selling, Bhutan still ranks as the seventh-largest known nation-state bitcoin holder, sitting behind the United States (328,372 BTC), China (190,000 BTC), the United Kingdom (61,245 BTC), Ukraine (46,351 BTC), El Salvador (7,607 BTC), and the United Arab Emirates (6,420 BTC), according to Bitcoin Treasuries. Not bad for a country with fewer residents than a mid-sized crypto Discord server.

Here's what makes Bhutan unique in the nation-state bitcoin club: while most countries accumulated their stacks via criminal seizures, the Kingdom built its reserve the old-fashioned way—mining it. Leveraging abundant hydroelectric power, Bhutan ran eco-friendly mining operations to build up its war chest. No shady dark web takedowns here, just clean energy and vibes.

But here's the plot twist: speculation is growing that the mining operations may have stopped. Why? Bhutan's last bitcoin inflow exceeding $100,000 happened more than a year ago, per Arkham data. Could the Thunder Dragon be done digging for digital gold? Only time will tell—or maybe the next Arkham alert will spill the tea.