Bitcoin Forum

recently i was going through twitter(X) and i came about a news report stating that Bhutan, which is a small country in Asia, just officially became part of the crypto currency world after buying $780 million dollars worth of Bitcoin and then advances to become the 4 largest government holder of Bitcoin just after UK this is actually very surprising especially considering the fact that Germany sold almost all of its Bitcoin few months back
What amazes me the most is that rather than buying Bitcoin directly, they invested more in mining Bitcoin
I think this is a big win to the Bitcoin community
But my question is, why did they decide to make this decision
And why did Germany sell its Bitcoin? Do they want to focus on just automobiles, which they are well known for
I would love to hear your thoughts on this

https://x.com/BitcoinNewsCom/status/1848038973547114890?t=ZNE4z2tvJ851VpUGXz5WoA&s=19

I haven't read the Twitter link you posted but the other sources I have read say that the Bhutan government mined this bitcoin rather than having bought it.  Which I think is bigger news.  I f true this would make them only the second country after El Salvador that I'm aware of that are mining Bitcoin at a national level.  From the little I know about Bhutan it seems like they are a pretty unique country, I would be interested to hear of any first hand experiences from people here.

These decisions suggest distinct economic and energy strategies for the two countries. I believe that Bhutan relies on its natural resources, while Germany takes a more conservative approach. This shows me how much the perception and use of cryptocurrencies can vary.

The weren't Germany's bitcoins per se. They were seized assets, mostly from pirating websites based in Germany, and they had to sell them for legal reasons.
I would imagine their current laws only allow them to sell/dispose of seized assets.
If they wanted to keep them they would need to pass new legislation allowing the government to keep seized assets.

It would be quite funny if these accounts were quite related.
Their holdings wasn't bought but was as a result of mining.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5509950.msg64558124#msg64558124

Lots of thread about this topic has been opened before not to mention it's almost a month old.

Just to clear up misunderstanding in the OP, it is true that Bhutan holds approximately 780 million dollars in Bitcoin, but it isn't like they bought most of it. Actually, the majority of their Bitcoin has come through mining. Bhutan's renewable energy sources, such as hydro, have been used to power mining that has been ramping up based on partnerships with companies like Bitdeer. So, their approach is more about producing Bitcoin themselves rather than buying a lot.

https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2024/09/from-mountains-to-mining-bhutans-780m-bitcoin-portfolio

While about Germany selling their Bitcoin, it mostly about their concerns about Bitcoin volatility and act of risk management seeing how the world economy lately and less likely have anything to do with their focus on automobiles. Germany has traditionally been conservative about cryptocurrency, which now is in contrast to this bold move by Bhutan to mine Bitcoin using green energy.

I’ve seen this thread before. I thought OP was saying that aside from the bitcoins they mined, they also purchased $780 million worth. But actually, that was just the total value of their mined bitcoin, which keeps changing due to bitcoin's price volatility. If he had watched the video in OP's link, he might understand it better.

Hey your thread is somehow misleading, The link you shared say Bhutan is mining bitcoin but what you discussed here is they bought $780 millions worth bitcoin, while the fact is that is the total worth of their asset

More clear details regarding on what OP write here https://kuenselonline.com/bhutan-owns-over-13000-bitcoin-worth-usd-780-million/

Although its great to see a small country like Bhutan is placing their country at top list towards largest bitcoin holder in the world. If this country could able to do it then maybe its time for other country to think the same and think about becoming more bitcoin friendly nation since somehow benefits will always go to them especially if bitcoin price rise for more figures.

They got it mostly from mining, not from investment.
https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/druk-holding-investments

They did it since May 2023. This nation is abundant electricity from hydro power and they made good decision to use their own made electricity for Bitcoin mining, rather than exporting it to neighbor countries.

Bhutan’s Bitcoin Holdings Revealed (https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bhutans-bitcoin-holdings-revealed-kingdom-owns-780m-btc-mining).

Oh I'm truly sorry about that I guess I misunderstood what it was all about thank you for the correction you made

People make up the government right? Yeah, and if you enter the bitcoin market, there are always sell orders and buy orders, those sell orders and buy orders did not place themselves, they were placed by people, real people like those in the government.

So, if a government decide to sell their bitcoin when another government is deciding to buy and hold bitcoin, it's their both and individual decision, same way you can decide to buy some bitcoin while I myself may decide to sell mine instead for our respective reasons.

The German government possibly have a reason why they decided to sell off their bitcoin, and if the government of Bhutan decided to invest in bitcoin, they also have their own reason as well, there ain't anything odd here because the crypto market is always in "soldier go, soilder come" mode, which means, as an investor is leaving, another investor is coming in, simple as ABC.

Bhutan follows a constitutional monarchy system. So even if they have an elected parliament, the king holds the highest order in this system. I am sure Bhutan is bullish about Bitcoin and since they have abundant hydro energy available, they are putting that to a good use to boost their economy. It's good to see that they are trying to come out of their dependency on tourism.

Not sure why Germany has decided to sell off their Bitcoin holding. Probably they are not seeing much hope in this and do not want to gamble with public money.

The decision officially adopted by Bhutan Government is of course appreciable. I congratulate them for taking such a decision. Today, where many of the big countries do not dare to invest in Bitcoin, countries like Bhutan have certainly led the whole world in investing in Bitcoin. But I see relatively small countries investing in Bitcoin first. A holder has the right to sell his assets at any time as per his wish. I think the decision that Germany took is up to them, but almost everyone now realizes that they took a wrong decision.

Many changes happen because of a decision and fall also happens by the decision. Today, while the world is singing the praises of Bitcoin, Bitcoin is loved by many, while many may also revile it. Today the United Arab Emirates has legalized Bitcoin in its country El Salvador has officially approved all things in cryptocurrency so that citizens of that country can get a better idea of ​​Bitcoin. Recently Such initiative of Bhutan must be followed by other countries of the world.

I might not be surprised of it because I've heard them mining Bitcoin already and that's a good thing directly for them since they're just a simple and quiet country.

I think that mining is ideal on their country's temperature and they don't have much tourists as well, so, they just like us that they can diversify into some to Bitcoin.

It's just all about money and they need it.

Never encountered any individual here coming from Bhutan so we don't exactly how their government is doing with respect to this market. But as it seems, they are like isolated country and they can basically do anything quietly.


Every country has their own take when it comes to crypto. Some will sell the seized coins, whereas, others will be willing to mine the coins to store in their vaults. Either way, it is up to them how they will approach this market and see the advantages that it can do to their economy.

Yeah, they're like an isolated country, and getting a VISA there is also tough. But with all of this limited information and news, we're getting about them, it makes us think that they're doing the right thing, so let it be. The source that they're getting is from their actual operations of mining so they're having it the typical way and not taking it from scams or other illegal activities done in their country. I know a crazy one thing about that country with its tradition but that's out of crypto.

I guess it's because it's different thing, seized asset is an object of law, therefore highly tied to legal frameworks and regulation. Bhutan's mined BTC on the other hand is not.

Bhutan holding BTC is cool and all but it's just entirely different context that I won't compare between the two.
so I still won't consider Bhutan truly intending to invest in it. but the fact that bhutan holds so much BTC is a really interesting headlines indeed.

Market needs to have buyers and sellers, from institutional, governmental to retailed investors and traders. If there are only buyers or only sellers, the market is done and dead.

German government is not matched for this example and in comparison with Bhutan government. These governments got bitcoin in different ways, with Bhutan it is from their investment through mining and with Germany, it is from seizure of bitcoin from criminal crack down.

German government is like the USA. government and other governments that got bitcoin not from their own investment decisions, have very little reasons to hold these bitcoins.

https://bitcointreasuries.net/

They have abundance of electricity as this country has put up a plan in the 80's if I'm not mistaken. So by the now, they have surplus of electricity and the government think that it's better to mine Bitcoin and now they are reaping the fruits of their labor so to speak.

And for Germany, it was a seized Bitcoin, meaning it those came for illicit activity and they deemed it that way.

Even US has been reported to auctioned seized Silk Road Bitcoin worth billions. I guess every government has it's own regulation as far as owning or selling their Bitcoin.

A little bit of a correction. It isn't sudden. Neither is it a purchase. Bhutan has been mining Bitcoin for half a decade now. Using hydropower, the small and happy country has been sustainably mining Bitcoin since 2019, back when the price per coin was still $5,000.

Yes, it's the 4th largest government holder of Bitcoin but it's unique in that its coins are earned organically, fresh, unlike the others whose coins are either seized from certain wallets or bought.   

Wait, does that mean that some of the coins owned by some countries are seized assets? I actually had no idea about that
I actually thought they were all purchased by the government for future purposes or something like that
Well, I guess I've learnt something new today

The US had the most Bitcoin, hundreds of thousands, billions in USD, but it never invested in it. They seized billions worth of coins from Silk Road alone. China has billions in Bitcoin also, but it also didn't invest in it. They aren't even friendly with Bitcoin. Their coins are also confiscated from criminal activities. The same goes with Germany and the UK. They also had billions worth of Bitcoin, with Germany's coming mostly from piracy site Movie2k. Some of these countries' coins have already been sold or auctioned though.

Taking such far-reaching measures on Bitcoin in a small country like Bhutan encourages other non-friendly countries to take various positive steps on Bitcoin. From the information available from various sources so far, it is basically known that Bhutan has more than $820 million worth of bitcoins till now. However, information is available from various social media or magazines that it has been stockpiled from mining projects. However, some believe that the Bhutanese government's holdings of such bitcoins are said to have been seized during illegal smuggling.

Take note that BTC is decentralized, so you will find it hard to see a government that wants to purchase BTC, almost all of the countries that hold BTC confiscated it from criminals, illicit dealers and seized services, they didn't invest in BTC. That is why they auction it off or sell it when they choose, they really do not have any desire or interest to store BTC.

Where did this small country get an extra $780 million? Bhutan doesn't want to disclose the origin of these funds? :)

If I were in other countries, I would immediately ask myself: it seems that Bhutan knows something that we don’t.

And having learned about the news with Bhutan, Germany probably already regrets the sale. :)

Perhaps, in the long run, this will turn out to be more profitable, because mining is a means of production, and bitcoin is a product or commodity. Instead of speculating on price, can create (mining).

Maybe you meant to say for Bhutan? :)

Direct this question to them. No one but them can give a clear answer (if they want to share info).

I can assume that the need for money and lack of faith in the future value of this asset. And also, Germany may know something that we don't know: the future of bitcoin is predetermined and it will be banned (but I think it's just a horror story :)).

P.S. Do newbies have the privilege of not using punctuation? :)

Either buying or mining BTC is fine, but it is great and unique that a country is mining their own BTC, and they have been doing so for a long time now. Take note that most countries neither buys nor mine their coins, they acquire it through confiscation and forfeiture, we can all agree that it is unique for a country to get theirs through mining than confiscation.

This is very interesting that a small country like this could see the future in bitcoin and start taking advantage of the opportunity they have which is the abundant electricity supply to partnership in mining bitcoin. They could be of big benefit from their mining in time to come as bitcoin is gradually gaining traction and adoption. While the big nations are busy selling theirs, the other smaller nations are busy looking for all available means to accumulate more of the bitcoin because they already see the future and were it is heading towards so they are just stashing up their vaults with bitcoin  and waiting for the right time when bitcoin would get to its peak in the world then they begin celebrating their profit and when they were busy investing their time and resources in bitcoin while other big nations were busy selling their for auction and lots more fighting against bitcoin.

If you have been following Bhutan crypto news regularly then you would know that they have been mining crypto for a long time now.
They have accumulated a good amount of bitcoins which contributes to a significant portion towards their GDP.
It surely is a great news for the bitcoin community and it's something that the other countries should follow too.
It is comparatively a small country yet very progressive and efficient with technology.

I don't know if you understood what i said, i never said mining is the only viable option, i called it unique because it is unusual to see a country mining their own BTC, it shows they are friendly to BTC and most countries are unfriendly to BTC.
BTC is no longer a legal tender in Central African Republic, it was legalized by their government, but they have long rescinded that decision and neither are they purchasing BTC, they have bigger problems in their country right now.