Bhutan moves another $8.2M in Bitcoin as state reserves continue to dwindle
Bhutan’s government has moved another 100.44 BTC worth about $8.2 million, extending a months-long pattern of outflows from the treasury tied to funds tracked by blockchain analytics firms.
Summary
- Bhutan moved 100.44 BTC worth about $8.2 million to an unlisted fund as state-linked outflows continued in May.
- Arkham estimated that wallets connected to Bhutan have transferred more than 230 million bitcoins since the beginning of 2026.
- Bhutan still holds about 3,119 BTC, although its reserves have declined significantly from the more than 13,000 BTC recorded in 2024.
According to on-chain data published Tuesday by Arkham Intelligence, the Royal Government of Bhutan transferred bitcoin at 5:27 a.m. UTC through three separate transactions to an unregistered wallet beginning with “bc1qn.” Arkham, which began looking at Bhutan’s holdings in 2024, said the agency appears to be consistent with previous transactions related to the sales activity.
Arkham analysts estimate that funds connected to Bhutan have recorded more than $230 million in outflows since the beginning of 2026, which is approximately $50 million in BTC movement per month. The company added that Bhutan will continue to hold approximately $767 million in unrealized profits if its remaining funds are liquidated at current market rates.
Although the destination wallet has not yet been made public, Arkham noted that the previous Bhutanese transfer eventually reached crypto exchange Binance and investment firm Galaxy Digital.
At the same time, the statistics platform said that the latest transfer may not necessarily reflect a fast sale because assets have been moved from the old address format starting with “3” to the new “bc1q” SegWit-style address.
Older Pay-to-PubKey-Hash Bitcoin addresses usually start with “1,” while Pay-to-Script-Hash addresses start with “3.” SegWit native wallets use the “bc1q” format, followed by Taproot addresses starting with “bc1p,” which currently represent the latest Bitcoin address standard.
Bhutan’s BTC reserves continue to fall
The new wallet function comes after a major transfer was linked to Bhutan earlier this year. In March, blockchain trackers including Onchain Lens and Arkham flagged transactions of around 700 BTC, worth nearly $50 million, from wallets linked to Bhutan’s private investment arm, Druk Holding & Investments.
One of these transfers in March moved 325 BTC to a wallet previously associated with Galaxy Digital, while another transaction of 375 BTC was sent to an unknown address that analysts suspect may be a trading desk available or a different custodian solution.
Reporting from Yahoo Finance later stated that Bhutan moved more than $84 million during March 2026 alone, while MEXC News separately identified another transaction of 519.7 BTC linked to wallets affiliated with Singapore-based OTC trading company QCP Capital. According to Bitcoin.com, Bhutan also transferred 175 BTC at the beginning of the month when Bitcoin was trading near $68,600.
Arkham’s latest data shows that Bhutan still controls about 3,119 BTC with an estimated value of $252.3 million. The reserve is down significantly from the holdings of more than 13,000 BTC recorded in October 2024, with about 3,000 BTC leaving wallets since the beginning of this year.
