Bhutan government moves over $23 million in BTC to Binance deposit address amid new bitcoin all-time high: Arkham
Quick Take
- The Royal Government of Bhutan deposited another 212.31 BTC ($23.61 million) to Binance on Thursday, according to the onchain analytics platform Arkham.
- The latest transfer follows the $14.75 million worth of bitcoin Bhutan deposited to the exchange last week — the most significant movements since November.
The Royal Government of Bhutan transferred approximately 212.31 BTC ($23.61 million) to a deposit address of crypto exchange Binance on Thursday, just hours after bitcoin briefly set a new all-time high.
Bhutan transferred the funds to Binance at 4:54 a.m. UTC, according to labeling from the onchain analytics platform Arkham, which began tracking the tiny Himalayan kingdom's holdings last September.
The transfer follows another 136.99 BTC ($14.75 million) deposited by Bhutan to Binance last week — the most significant movement of its bitcoin holdings since a $33 million deposit in November, when BTC was first approaching $100,000 — continuing its pattern of potentially offloading bitcoin during price rallies.
While the specific reason for the latest transfer remains unknown, such deposits to crypto exchanges are often made to sell the assets.
According to Arkham, Bhutan still holds some 11,711 BTC, which is currently valued at around $1.3 billion — the equivalent of 40% of the country's gross domestic product. Bhutan's 656 ETH ($1.8 million) remains its only other substantial cryptocurrency holding, despite also transferring approximately $1 million worth to Binance in May.
Mining for digital gold
The bitcoin is held in the custody of Bhutan's state investment wing, Druk Holding & Investments. Bhutan's balance makes it the sixth-largest known nation-state holder of bitcoin, behind the United States (198,012 BTC), China (190,000 BTC), the United Kingdom (61,245 BTC), Ukraine (46,351 BTC), and North Korea (13,562 BTC), according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.
However, while many countries tend to acquire their bitcoin via criminal seizures, Bhutan has been mining it to build up its reserves, seemingly via Ant Pool, looking at recent onchain data, leveraging its abundant hydroelectric power to drive eco-friendly mining operations.
Bitcoin set a new all-time high of $112,152 on Coinbase late Wednesday, breaching the $112,000 level for the first time before correcting. Bitcoin is currently trading for $110,921, according to The Block's BTC price page.
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