Tracking data today shows that on-chain addresses linked to Bhutan hold just 518 $BTC . At its peak, the country held nearly 13,000, and figures from the middle of this year still showed about 5,600.
The gap is large enough that it’s worth first looking at the accounting behind it. In December 2025, Bhutan’s king allocated up to 10,000 bitcoins to the city treasury of a new southern city. In July 2026, those funds were handed over to Canadian asset manager 3iQ, which replaced pure cold storage with a low-risk, market-neutral strategy. Public reports described the partnership as the first sovereign bitcoin treasury managed by an outside institution.
There has never been a consistent official accounting of how these three layers—transfers, national reserves, and outsourced management—are consolidated. Tracking firms count by address and only include what they can see.
Two things are clear. Bhutan got its start mining bitcoin using hydropower and was once among the countries with the largest sovereign holdings. Its approach to managing those holdings is also changing—from putting mined coins in cold wallets to handing them to professional managers to generate returns.
On-chain evidence cannot yet tell whether these coins were sold, moved, or transferred to new addresses. When sovereign accounts shift their positions, they tend to be quieter than retail investors.
#BTC
The gap is large enough that it’s worth first looking at the accounting behind it. In December 2025, Bhutan’s king allocated up to 10,000 bitcoins to the city treasury of a new southern city. In July 2026, those funds were handed over to Canadian asset manager 3iQ, which replaced pure cold storage with a low-risk, market-neutral strategy. Public reports described the partnership as the first sovereign bitcoin treasury managed by an outside institution.
There has never been a consistent official accounting of how these three layers—transfers, national reserves, and outsourced management—are consolidated. Tracking firms count by address and only include what they can see.
Two things are clear. Bhutan got its start mining bitcoin using hydropower and was once among the countries with the largest sovereign holdings. Its approach to managing those holdings is also changing—from putting mined coins in cold wallets to handing them to professional managers to generate returns.
On-chain evidence cannot yet tell whether these coins were sold, moved, or transferred to new addresses. When sovereign accounts shift their positions, they tend to be quieter than retail investors.
#BTC
