King of Bhutan mobilizes 10,000 Bitcoins to reshape the "City of Mindfulness" blueprint through compound interest finance

Bhutan, nestled at the foot of the Himalayas, is conducting an unprecedented national experiment in cryptocurrency. King Wanchuk of Bhutan recently announced in his National Day speech that he will mobilize 10,000 Bitcoins (currently valued at approximately $895 million) as the core funding source for the construction of the “Gleup Zen Mind City.” The uniqueness of this decision lies in the fact that the government is not cashing out the Bitcoin, but rather leveraging innovative financial mechanisms to allow this digital asset to continuously inject development momentum into the future city while maintaining the country’s strategic reserves.

Bhutan’s Cross-Generation Strategic Investment

Covering about 1,544 square miles, which is approximately 10% of Bhutan’s territory, Zen Mind City is a grand blueprint personally planned by the King of Bhutan to reverse talent outflow and create high-value employment opportunities. During the National Day speech, the king characterized this initiative as a “cross-generation investment concerning youth employment and the long-term prosperity of the nation.”

The Bhutanese government is currently evaluating various innovative strategies to utilize these 10,000 Bitcoins, including obtaining liquidity through collateralized loans, implementing risk-managed yield strategies, and long-term holding mechanisms. The core goal is to convert Bitcoin’s compound value into funds for infrastructure development, rather than following the traditional route of selling for cash. The government emphasizes that any future Bitcoin disbursements will be conducted under rigorous governance and prudent principles to ensure capital preservation and transparency throughout the process.

From Mining to Payments: Bhutan’s Full-Stack Blockchain Deployment

Bhutan’s application of cryptocurrency is far from its first. Since 2021, the Bhutanese government has been mining Bitcoin using surplus hydroelectric power from Himalayan rivers. To date, over 13,011 Bitcoins have been mined, with 11,286 still held, valued at about $986 million. These mining revenues form an important foundation for the development of Zen Mind City.

Bhutan’s blockchain ambitions go well beyond mining. The government has built a blockchain-based national identity system for approximately 800,000 citizens. In October this year, they successfully migrated from Polygon to the Ethereum mainnet and strengthened credentials and digital signature functions. In May, Bhutan partnered with DK Bank and Binance Pay to fully integrate cryptocurrency payments into the tourism industry, covering over 100 crypto assets, with more than 100 local merchants participating.

Pioneer in the Era of Sovereign Tokenization

This year, Bhutan also launched a groundbreaking innovation—“TER,” a token issued on the Solana chain backed by physical gold reserves. This move places Bhutan among the few nations attempting national asset tokenization, demonstrating its ambition in the Web3 era.

The Zen Mind City itself will encompass four pillars: finance, green energy, healthcare, and technology. It aims not only to attract young talent but also to establish Bhutan as a unique global trade and economic hub in the Web3 era. This city, planned to be built in phases over 20 years, is a grand practice by the Bhutanese king to combine traditional Buddhist civilization with modern crypto innovation.