Bhutan ‘doesn’t recall’ selling any bitcoin, disputing widely-tracked $1 billion BTC drawdown

Arkham told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat last month that all its wallet labels are identified by an in-house intelligence team sourced from a variety of public data sources “synthesized and analyzed with AI, machine learning, and other data science techniques.” The company had not independently confirmed the addresses with Bhutan or related ministries.

Some of the outflow destinations are wallets previously used to interact with Galaxy Digital and OKX, exchanges and some trading firms typically associated with sales rather than internal reshuffling of funds.

As such, a source close to one of the trading firms that received bitcoin from Bhutan-tracked wallets confirmed that no sales have taken place recently.

It is possible that wallets are moving bitcoin, but Bhutan does not consider those movements "selling." This could include transfers to custody providers, posting bitcoin as collateral, lending arrangements or OTC deals structured as something other than a spot sale.

In December, Bhutan announced a Bitcoin Development Pledge committing up to 10,000 BTC toward the long-term development of Gelephu Mindfulness City, a new economic zone in southern Bhutan.

At the time of the announcement, that commitment was worth roughly $860 million. Today, with bitcoin trading near $79,000 and Bhutan apparently holding approximately 3,300 BTC, the kingdom does not have 10,000 BTC left to commit.

Meanwhile, CoinDesk reported in March that Bhutan may have ceased mining operations entirely, with no significant inflows to its known wallets in over a year.

That absence was unusual for an operation built on the kingdom's abundant hydroelectric capacity. Bhutan has accumulated coins through mining activities and not open market purchases. It still holds an unrealized profit of roughly $754 million on its remaining position.

But DHI’s Dahal said the country had been “fortunate this year” with early and consistent rainfall.

“(Rain) keeps our hydropower plants running at strong capacity and our mining operations active. All Bitcoin mined in Bhutan is powered by green energy, and we are continuously upgrading to the latest-generation rigs to remain competitive,” he said.

For now, there seems to be more questions than answers between what Bhutan’s officials are saying about their bitcoin position and the onchain activity, raising questions about what is really happening to the stash that the country has mined and holds.