Bhutan disputes BTC sales as Arkham flags holdings drop

Druk Holding and Investments, the Bhutanese sovereign investment arm that manages the country’s bitcoin mining operations, told a news outlet in 2026 that it does not recall selling any BTC. The comment came after blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence published data showing a large decline in addresses it associates with the kingdom.

Arkham’s public tracking lists a cluster of wallets attributed to Bhutan and reports the total at about 13,000 BTC in October 2024 and 3,121.22 BTC in 2026, a position valued at roughly $244 million at current prices. The dataset shows transfers from those flagged wallets over the past year to addresses labeled as exchanges and over-the-counter trading desks.

In an email, DHI CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal wrote that he does not “recall the last time we sold any BTC.” He added that unusually strong rainfall helped the country’s hydropower generation this year, supporting the mining operations. DHI did not provide transaction-level details or confirm any transfers from the wallets identified by Arkham.

Arkham says its wallet labels are produced by an internal intelligence team using public data, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other data-science methods, and that the addresses “were not independently verified with Bhutanese officials.” The firm applies similar analysis to wallets it associates with other governments and institutions.

Bhutan began mining bitcoin in early 2019 under a hydropower-based model and partnered with a third-party operator. Since then the country has been reported as one of the larger nation-state holders that mine and keep BTC. Public understanding of Bhutan’s holdings expanded after blockchain analytics firms began flagging specific addresses, but official transaction confirmations from Bhutanese ministries have not been published.