Thunder Dragon's Fire Sale: Bhutan Dumps Another $25M Bitcoin While Nation-State Rankings Stay Cozy

The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred approximately 374.9 BTC ($25.2 million) to an unlabeled address on Tuesday, continuing an accelerating outflow streak. The funds moved to an address starting 'bc1q0' at 7:28 a.m. UTC, according to onchain analytics platform Arkham, which began tracking the tiny Himalayan kingdom's holdings in 2024. Because apparently, even the happiest country on Earth is having second thoughts about HODLing.

Analysts at Onchain Lens noted that the recipient address had previously transferred bitcoin received from Bhutan to investment manager Galaxy Digital, suggesting the government may be selling. The specific reason for the transfer remains unknown. Classic move—send it to Galaxy and let Mike Novogratz deal with the existential questions.

Outgoing bitcoin transfers from Bhutan government-labeled addresses have now topped 1,000 BTC over the past week. The latest transaction 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 whole lot of sats flying out of the Himalayan mountains faster than tourists fleeing Thimphu traffic.

The bitcoin is held in the custody of Bhutan's state investment wing, Druk Holding & Investments. The country's balance makes it the seventh-largest known nation-state holder of bitcoin, 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 data. Not quite whale territory, but definitely not minnow either—just chilling in the middle of the geopolitical poker table.

Unlike many countries that acquired bitcoin via criminal seizures, Bhutan built its reserves through mining, leveraging abundant hydroelectric power for eco-friendly operations. Genuine proof-of-work, no government dark web busts required—just good old water and mountains doing their thing. However, speculation has grown over whether the government has stopped mining, as its last bitcoin inflow exceeding $100,000 occurred more than a year ago, per Arkham data. The hydro's still flowing, but the block rewards? Crickets.