Bhutan buys Bitcoin

The insolvency proceedings of the crypto lenders Celsius and BlockFi have revealed that the state fund of the Asian kingdom of Bhutan is buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Several million are in the portfolio. The investment was apparently never intended to go public.

Bhutan buys bitcoin

The Asian state of Bhutan is buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Forbes reports. The country with around 800,000 inhabitants invested a total of 2.9 billion US dollars in a fund. How much of that flowed into cryptocurrencies is unknown. The investments are made through Druk Holding & Investments .

The company operates the State Fund of Bhutan. His portfolio mainly includes local companies – such as a cheese dairy, hydroelectric power plants or the country’s airline. The State Fund was created in 2007 on the personal orders of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

Altogether there are 21 local companies in Druk’s portfolio. The company responsible describes the fund as independent. Due to the way it works, experts still refer to it as a state fund.

This is how Bhutan’s secret Bitcoin portfolio was exposed

In its report, Forbes relies on documents from the bankruptcy proceedings of Celsius and BlockFi . Accordingly, there are clear indications that Druk acquired cryptocurrencies and invested them with the lenders in order to passively increase wealth.

Specifically, Forbes mentions Bitcoin and Ethereum . It is currently unknown which digital assets are still in the portfolio apart from the two largest cryptocurrencies. Information from the Celsius data leak also shows stablecoins USDT and USDC. The currency of the Blockchain Oracles Chainlink (LINK) is also represented. It is uncertain how long the Asian kingdom has been investing in cryptocurrencies.

“During the three months detailed in the Celsius figures, Druk has withdrawn more than $65 million and deposited nearly $18 million in digital assets.” Writes Forbes.

Druk failed to repay a $30 million coin loan to BlockFi. Therefore, there was a legal dispute with the crypto lender. BlockFi has already liquidated 1,888 BTC worth $76.5 million. Another $820,000 is still in arrears.

Another $83 million moved to and from Celsius. Druk himself declined to comment on crypto assets to Forbes. This is not surprising, at least insofar as the fund never publicly announced its digital portfolio.

However, some indications of activity could have been discerned. In 2020, the funds manager organized an information event on the subject of blockchain. In 2021, Ripple announced that it would work with Bhutan on a CBDC.

It is unclear how the country’s crypto investments will continue. Finally, some losses may have arisen in connection with the bankruptcies of Celsius and BlockFi. It is not yet certain that the two companies will be able to pay off their creditors.