Bhutan Transfer 929 Bitcoin To Binance, Want To Be Sold?

JAKARTA - The Kingdom of Bhutan recently sent Bitcoin to the crypto exchange. This small country in the Himalayan has transferred as much as 929 Bitcoins to the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance. This transaction is equivalent to a value of around IDR 1 trillion.

Bitcoin worth 66.16 million US dollars or around Rp1.025 trillion was first reported by blockchain analysis platform, Lookonchain. Bhutan now has a total of 12,456 BTC which, if calculated at current prices, is worth around US$886.58 million or Rp13.74 trillion. Bhutan's decision to transfer part of its Bitcoin to Binance was made amid the trend of rising Bitcoin prices, which almost reached its highest peak of around US$74.000.

According to analysts, this transfer can provide Bhutan with profits through a number of services Binance offers, such as staking, loans, and other investment products. In addition to active trading, the features in Binance allow Bhutan to optimize the potential benefits of their Bitcoin without having to sell it directly through spot trading.

The Bhutan move is considered as part of a national financial modernization strategy, given that few countries have large amounts of crypto assets. In addition, this transfer also shows Bhutan's innovative approach in managing the country's wealth through digital assets. This is in line with the global trend of starting to see crypto as an important part of diversifying investment portfolios.

However, there has been no official statement from the Bhutan government regarding its long-term goals, this bitcoin transfer indicates the possibility of a large strategy that could include more intense trading activities or new investment initiatives in the future.

Bhutan's Strategy Mining Bitcoin

According to a report by blockchain analytic firm Arkham Intelligent, on September 16, 2024, the number of Bhutan's bitcoins has reached a fantastic value of USD 750 million (approximately IDR 11.6 trillion). This value represents about 27.9% of Bhutan's 2023 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is estimated at USD 2.686 billion (approximately IDR 41.6 trillion).

The number of Bhutan bitcoins is more than double compared to El Salvador, which has ownership of US$335 million (around Rp5.2 trillion). In fact, the population of Bhutan is only about 12% of the population of El Salvador, which is around 782,000 people compared to 6.336 million people in El Salvador.

Bhutan's success began with a bitcoin mining operation driven by Druk Holding & Investments, a investment agency owned by the Bhutan government, which started this mining activity in April 2019 when the price of bitcoin was still around US$5,000 (Rp77.5 million). Since then, Bhutan has continued to improve its operations, leveraging the potential new income from crypto mining in the global market.