On-chain data tracked by Arkham Intelligence and reported by The Block on March 9, 2026, shows wallets linked to Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), Bhutan's state-controlled sovereign wealth fund, moving approximately $12 million worth of Bitcoin. The destination of the transfer has not yet been publicly identified. The movement is the latest in a series of incremental sales that began in January and now total an estimated $40 million or more in year-to-date outflows. For context, the largest single outflow on record came in July 2025, when DHI moved more than $62 million to Binance over four consecutive days, making the current pace appear measured by comparison. Bitcoin is currently trading near $69,391, down roughly 14% from a year ago and about $50,000 below its July 2025 peak of approximately $122,000.

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A Steady Drawdown, Not a Panic Sale

The pattern of sales follows a consistent structure. In late January, DHI moved around 100.82 BTC (worth roughly $8.31 million at the time). In early February, 184.03 BTC (approximately $14.09 million) was routed to QCP Capital, a Singapore-based over-the-counter trading firm, and to a Binance hot wallet. A third transfer of about 100 BTC ($6.7 million) followed on February 13. The March movement adds another tranche to that sequence.

Analysts have flagged the routing choices as significant. Directing sales through QCP Capital rather than selling directly on exchanges signals a deliberate, block-trade approach designed to avoid moving the market.

As one analyst noted in CoinDesk's February coverage, the activity reflects "large holders treating bitcoin less as a static reserve asset and more as a balance-sheet tool during stress periods." The Cryptonomist observed that using a firm like QCP "signals strategic liquidation rather than distressed selling."

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From Peak Holdings to Active Management

Bhutan began mining Bitcoin in 2019 using hydroelectric power, well before making any public disclosures about the program. DHI manages the operation on behalf of the Royal Government. Arkham Intelligence first publicly identified and labeled these wallets in September 2024, surfacing reserves that had been building in near-total secrecy for five years.

At their October 2024 peak, Bhutan's wallets held an estimated 13,295 BTC, valued at approximately $1.4 billion. Current holdings sit at roughly 5,600 BTC, worth around $372 to $383 million. That is a portfolio value decline of more than 70% from peak, driven by both the price drop and the ongoing outflows.

Bhutan still ranks among the top ten sovereign Bitcoin holders globally, behind the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and a handful of others.

DHI CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal described his investment philosophy in a Fortune Asia interview in May 2025: "Bitcoin is a parallel to digital gold." He also defended the environmental record of the operation, stating that "Bitcoin mining using Bhutan's hydropower offsets coins mined with fossil energy elsewhere and contributes to the green economy."

Senior officials in Thimphu have confirmed, according to Fortune Asia reporting in May 2025, that mining profits have helped pay government salaries for at least two years.

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The Gelephu Tension

The selling activity stands in tension with a separate pledge DHI made in December 2025.

At that point, DHI committed up to 10,000 BTC (valued near $1 billion at the time) to serve as collateral backing for the Gelephu Mindfulness City, a planned special economic zone near the Indian border covering roughly 1,544 square miles. The announced strategy was to use Bitcoin as collateral for structured lending, yield strategies, and long-term treasury management, not to sell it for development cash.

Whether the ongoing sales are drawing from a separate pool or chipping away at the Gelephu reserve is not yet clear from public on-chain data. Analysts have identified this as a key open question in understanding DHI's current treasury approach.

In April 2024, DHI also partnered with Singapore-based Bitdeer Technologies Group to scale mining capacity toward a target of 600 megawatts, all powered by renewable hydro energy. If that expansion has proceeded on schedule, new supply would continue to come in even as sales go out, though the current operational status of that capacity has not been independently confirmed.

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A Regional Outlier

No other government in South Asia operates anything close to what Bhutan has built. Nepal bans cryptocurrency outright under Nepal Rastra Bank rules. India taxes crypto gains at a flat 30% rate with no loss offsetting, creating real friction despite ranking first globally in retail adoption. Pakistan has moved in a more Bitcoin-friendly direction, establishing the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority in 2025 and allocating 2,000 megawatts of electricity for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers.

Bhutan's position as a small, hydro-rich state with a functioning sovereign mining program offers a template that analysts describe as potentially replicable for resource-abundant emerging economies seeking alternatives to conventional reserve management.

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What to Watch Next

The pace of sales and the level of remaining holdings will define whether the Gelephu Bitcoin collateral strategy is still viable. If outflows continue at the current rate through mid-2026, the gap between what was pledged in December and what remains on-chain will become harder to ignore.

For now, DHI is moving Bitcoin in measured increments, routing it through institutional channels, and has not made public statements on the ongoing outflows.

The on-chain data is doing the talking.