Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm is pushing back against claims that it has sold about $1 billion worth of Bitcoin, creating a rare dispute between official comments and onchain wallet tracking.
Druk Holding and Investments CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal told CoinDesk, “I don’t recall the last time we sold any BTC,” after months of reports tied to wallets attributed to Bhutan by Arkham Intelligence. The statement does not directly explain the wallet movements, confirm current holdings or dispute every address label, but it pushes back against the market’s assumption that the transfers were outright sales.
Arkham first identified the Royal Government of Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings in 2024, placing the stash above 13,000 BTC and linking it to government-funded mining operations. Recent tracking places the balance closer to about 3,100 BTC, after more than a year of transfers from the tagged wallet cluster to exchanges, trading firms and other counterparties.
That flow has been treated by many traders as sovereign sell pressure, especially after Bhutan-linked wallets moved another 100 BTC in May and Arkham warned the remaining stack could run down before year-end at the current pace. CryptoAdventure previously tracked how large Bhutan wallet outflows had already made the country’s Bitcoin strategy a live market issue.
Transfers Are Not The Same As Confirmed Sales
The dispute turns on what onchain data can and cannot prove. Bitcoin movements from a sovereign-linked wallet to an exchange, OTC desk or trading firm are strong evidence of a possible sale route, but they do not confirm execution. Coins can also move for custody, collateral, structured lending, treasury management or internal settlement, and centralized exchange activity is not fully visible onchain.
That distinction matters because Bhutan’s Bitcoin position is not a typical seized-asset treasury. The country built its stack through hydropower-backed mining, including a DHI and Bitdeer partnership to develop green digital-asset mining operations in the kingdom. The model turned surplus renewable energy into a state-linked Bitcoin reserve and made Bhutan one of the most closely watched sovereign BTC holders.
The current balance question also collides with Bhutan’s earlier pledge to support Gelephu Mindfulness City with up to 10,000 BTC. That commitment had already put the country’s reserve strategy under scrutiny, and the latest dispute deepens uncertainty around how much Bitcoin remains available for long-term development plans.
For now, the verified picture is narrow. Bhutan’s sovereign fund says it does not recall selling Bitcoin, while Arkham-tracked wallets show a steep drawdown from the 2024 peak and repeated transfers to market-facing counterparties. Until DHI provides a wallet-level explanation or updated reserve figure, the gap between official language and public blockchain data remains unresolved.
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