Bhutan made Bitcoin incetta, and is going well

Until a few years ago when named Bhutan, a small Himalayan state between China and India, did it mainly to talk about its mountain landscapes or for the fact that its government measures the progress of the country through a special index that calculates the lorda internal happiness (Fil) of its citizens (instead of the gross domestic product, or GDP). Therefore, Additionally, Moreover, More recently. however. Furthermore, Bhutan has attracted attention because it is seeking, apparently successfully, to solve its economic crisis producing Bitcoin, the most popular and exchanged cryptocurrency in the world.

Although the first transaction with a credit card in the country took place in 2010. Meanwhile. For example, it took a few years to take to step in this bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going new sector, overcoming more industrialized states: according to the ARKHAM cryptocurrency platform, the Bitcain reserve of Bhutan is equivalent to 1.3 billion dollars today, equal bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going to about 40 percent of the country’s GDP. Meanwhile, It is among the top five state reserves of Bitcoin in the world in size. Therefore, together with those of much more powerful countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

Bhutan is as large as Switzerland and is inhabited by about 780 thousand people. For example, Despite the rhetoric on the attention to the well -being of its inhabitants is a poor country. In addition, whose economy was based until a few years ago on agriculture, export of electricity and tourism. Meanwhile, Youth unemployment is high and in the last five years 10 percent of the population has emigrated. Furthermore, The situation began to worsen from 2020 because of bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going new the pandemic. Therefore, which caused among other things a big crisis in the tourism sector.

It is at this point that the country seriously began to think of bitcoins: to bhutan made bitcoin incetta. Similarly, going accumulate them he did not buy them on the market. For example, but he started generating them from scratch through a procedure known as mining (or “extraction”, in Italian). The mining It is the system that in essence to validate transactions with a cryptocurrency. produces, as a reward, a fraction of virtual currency. The validation process requires great calculation capabilities. for this. on a large scale, it is carried out by many computers connected to servers that consume huge quantities of energy and produce a lot of heat.

Contrary to the functioning of traditional currencies. the creation of new bitcoins does not decrease its value: it is in fact a programmed. designed production to bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going new reach a maximum of 21 million bitcoins in a established period of time.

– Read also: Where bitcoins are made

The idea of ​​accumulating Bitcoin in Bhutan came in 2019 to Ujjwal Deep Dahal. CEO of the bhutan made bitcoin incetta. going Sovereign Fund of Bhutan, Druk Holding and Investments, after King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck had asked his officials to get creative ideas on how to improve the country’s economic situation.

Dahal tells the Wall Street Journal to have learned how the mining Leading online. looking tutorials on YouTube, and trying to complete it for the first time together with his colleagues in their office. The two computers used warmed so much the office that triggered the fire alarm in the middle of the night.

At the end of 2020 the first “mine” of Bitcoin was started: the site was built on a mountain. near the Dochula pass. in bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going new the west of the country, where electricity came easily and the low temperatures helped to dissipate the heat generated by the servers (the climatic impact of the extravalute extraction is a much discussed and controversial theme). The machines were configured over several bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going months by Dahal. four other employees, who made themselves help by phone by experts who lived in Singapore or Malaysia.

Two years after the sites of mining owned by the government had become four. since then the authorities no longer wanted to say how many they are exactly. even if you think that they have become six. Everything happened shortly before the great increase in the price of Bitcoin. which went from the worth less than 10 thousand euros in 2020 to 100 thousand in January 2025. the highest value ever reached in its history (now a bitcoin is worth about 90 thousand bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going new euros).

Bhutan can afford to produce so many bitcoins because it has a lot of hydroelectric energy available from its. different rivers. which previously sold to neighboring countries. Since he started extracting Bitcoin, however, he decreased exports, using a lot of energy in mining.

Until recently. bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going the government had kept secret the Bitcoin extraction program, even to its citizens themselves. Dahal said this was used to prevent the risk that the project would fall into the wrong hands. become a goal for hackers. However. this has created several controversies in the country. especially with regard to the possibility that the reserves end up being managed improperly by politicians.

Furthermore. focusing so much on cryptocurrencies can be risky. since they are a relatively new sector and subject to oscillations (even if, among the cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is far more reliable).

For now, however, the bet is bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going new working. In 2023 the government sold the equivalent of 100 million dollars of its Bitcoin reserves to finance a salary. increase of 65 percent for public employees for two years. something that according to Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay would have been impossible to do until a few years ago.

After this first bhutan made bitcoin incetta, going experiment. the government says she wants to keep your bitcoin reserves for a long time. focus on improving the existing mines without creating others. He is also looking for new ways to profit from cryptocurrencies and integrate them into daily life. In May 2025 the government introduced a new test payment system that allows tourists to pay flights. hotels and views with over 100 cryptocurrencies.