Hydroelectric power has provided Bhutan with the ability to mine Bitcoin at low cost. Yet it has recently begun to sell off its huge store of digital assets.
Bhutan has long been a case study in how Bitcoin should work. By using excess energy from its hydroelectric power, the small Himalayan kingdom has managed to build a huge pile of Bitcoin through mining. Yet it recently began to offload a lot of its stored digital asset wealth, just as others followed suit. So, what could this signal for the price of Bitcoin in the coming year?
Bhutan Begins a Sell-Off
The Bitcoin price INR stands at 6,167,251 as of 2nd of April 2026. This is down from a level of 6,944,470 two weeks before, showcasing a continued downtrend in the price of Bitcoin and wider cryptocurrencies. In fact, the price seems to have consolidated between the USD levels of $62,000 and $72,000 for some time. Contributing to this have been a range of factors, one of which has been sell-offs by several high-profile holders, of which Bhutan is one.
In 2024, it was estimated that Bhutan’s holdings were at 13,000 BTC. So far, it has had a spree that has sold 3,103 BTC. A total of 375 BTC was sold in a transaction on March 30th. Around 150 BTC was sold previously on March 17th. All of these coincide with a pattern of selling in small batches, so as not to disturb the markets.
Crucially, no inbound flows have been recorded in over a year. This suggests that Bhutan may have ceased Bitcoin mining activities. Other sources suggest it is continuing, but at a much lower level of profitability.
Bhutan’s Cryptocurrency Plans
Bhutan has long had ambitions to make a Bitcoin country of sorts. In December, it set out its intentions to build Gelephu Mindfulness City, an economic hub focused on digital assets and the blockchain. It committed 10,000 bitcoin to the project at the time, and selling could be a way of funding this.
Debates have ranged on Bitcoin’s actual usefulness in real-world transactions. Data suggest that this is on the up, however. Binance noted how a real-world spend signal could be seen in the rise of crypto cards. They crossed the US $100 million mark, and crypto card volumes rose 5x in 2025, reaching US $115 million in January 2026. They also stipulated that this was still tiny versus traditional methods but was growing fast, with Visa dominating the niche.
Bhutan has a record of using Bitcoin in very practical ways. It was the first country in the world to become carbon negative, though mainly due to its abundance of power and small population. Its 800,000 inhabitants have long faced economic problems, with it being landlocked between India and China and having a lack of farmable land.
With a drop in tourism, it faced a new problem: brain drain. Many of its young, talented individuals were choosing to leave the country to find employment elsewhere. This made a major hole in civil service employment. More than 10% left in 2022 alone.
By 2023, the country sold around $100 million worth of cryptocurrency. This was used to bolster the salaries of civil servants, doubling them and causing an increase in those choosing to stay in the country.
Others Selling Off Bitcoin
Other major holders currently selling Bitcoin include Riot Platforms. Through mining, it has managed to carry on accumulating Bitcoin throughout peaks and troughs. Now, the actual cost of mining itself may be sitting heavily on its output.
At its peak, the company held 19,000 BTC but sold around $200 million towards the end of last year. This was followed most recently by a shedding of around $34.13 millions worth. Its holdings are now down to around 17,500 BTC. It is believed that much of this is being used to pivot a change into the AI sector.
More worrying are companies such as Genius. An education specialist who provided courses for entrepreneurs online, it became an AI-focused group in 2024 after a major merger. Yet it has now completely sold off its BTC, after holding as much as 440 BTC in March last year. Its last 84 BTC was sold off to pay a $8.5 million debt.
What is worrying about this is its position as a ‘Bitcoin treasury’ company. This was the moniker given to many firms that turned to the acquisition of Bitcoin to shore up their balance books. While for some this was a legitimate strategy, for others it was viewed as a golden ticket to alleviate financial problems already at play. If these companies are now offloading, it could seriously impact the markets.
Many who are short-term traders who have entered into markets in the last two years are also looking to offload. The prolonged weakness in the price is weighing heavily on balance sheets, crucially after many have sold debt to fund their acquisition. Bhutan is a major player, and it seems to be selling off to fund other domestic plans. Yet what is more worrying are these corporate owners, who are selling off to pay off debts or pivot to other industries. None of this bodes well in the long term.
