Bhutan’s Sovereign Fund Withdraws Over $70 Million from Bitcoin Reserves

Bhutan's government moved 973 BTC worth $72.32M, Arkham Intelligence reports.

The Royal Government of Bhutan has transferred 973 BTC, valued at approximately $72.32 million, to several addresses, according to Arkham Intelligence data. 

HAS BHUTAN STOPPED MINING BITCOIN?

Bhutan just moved another $44.44M BTC out of its accounts. Bhutan has moved $72.3M BTC out of its addresses in the past 24 hours.

Bhutan’s last >$100K BTC inflow was over 1 year ago. Has Bhutan stopped mining Bitcoin? https://t.co/IhcGDMRH0t pic.twitter.com/qvQuKXXoaU

— Arkham (@arkham) March 18, 2026

On March 17 and 18, Bhutan’s authorities transferred $27.8 million and $44.44 million in Bitcoin to unknown addresses, respectively. The transactions were made from the wallets of Druk Holding and Investments, the sovereign fund managing the state’s cryptocurrency reserves.

Crypto assets worth approximately $1.52 million were sent to QCP Capital, a platform specializing in institutional trading.

Earlier this month, the kingdom withdrew about $11.85 million from its main address to a new account created in February. Previously, 184 BTC from the government had been transferred to this account and then moved to another wallet.

According to Arkham, Bhutan regularly sells digital assets in tranches of $5-10 million. Since the beginning of the year, the country has sold coins worth over $110 million.

Bhutan’s Reserves Dwindle

At the time of writing, Druk Holding manages 4453 BTC, valued at about $326 million. This is three times less than the October peak, when the country held more than 13,000 BTC.

Bhutan accumulated bitcoins primarily through mining using cheap hydroelectric power. The country has been mining the first cryptocurrency since 2019. 

Following the last halving, the profitability of operations decreased due to rising costs. Arkham suggested that the kingdom might have ceased mining digital assets. This is indicated by the absence of incoming transfers exceeding $100,000, which have not been observed for more than a year. 

Institutional Appetite Grows

Bhutan’s sales coincided with the return of institutional demand for Bitcoin in the United States. Spot exchange-traded funds recorded their seventh consecutive day of inflows, marking the longest positive streak since October 2025. 

As of March 17, the instruments attracted $199.3 million, with the majority going to BlackRock’s product, IBIT. Over seven trading days, Bitcoin ETFs received $1.17 billion. 

“Institutional confidence has returned. Seven consecutive days of inflows and nearly $1 billion over six of them speak for themselves: these are not reactive purchases but deliberate allocations by entities that do not move quickly or act rashly,” noted BTC Markets analyst Rachel Lucas.

According to her, the demand is structural: buyers adhere to a long-term strategy rather than trading on news. This helps digital gold maintain its price range after a 15% rise amid geopolitical uncertainty.

Spot Ethereum ETFs attracted $138.2 million. Exchange-traded funds based on Solana and XRP received $17.8 million and $4.6 million respectively.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $72,900. Over the past 24 hours, the asset’s price has fallen by 1.6%. 

Earlier in March, investment bank Citigroup revised its annual price forecast for the first cryptocurrency from $143,000 to $112,000.