Bhutan sells another 500 Bitcoins, totaling $150 million in cash-out this year.

The Bhutanese government has recently been selling off Bitcoin frequently, cashing out over $150 million this year, reducing their holdings from a peak of 13,000 coins to less than 4,500. It now appears that the government’s previous pledge to allocate 10,000 Bitcoin to build the “City of Mindfulness” is at risk of falling through.

On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence shows that on Wednesday, the Bhutanese government transferred 519.7 Bitcoin (worth about $36.75 million) to an external address. Over the past two weeks, Bhutan’s selling activity has accelerated sharply, with $72 million worth of Bitcoin moved out just last week, a small portion of which flowed into the deposit address of Singapore-based crypto trading firm QCP Capital.

Looking back at January and February this year, most of Bhutan’s transactions ranged between $5 million and $15 million; however, starting in March, individual transactions surged to between $35 million and $45 million. Statistics indicate that in 2026 alone, Bhutan’s Bitcoin outflows reached approximately $152 million.

QCP Capital has acted as a recipient three times this year, handling a total of about $16.6 million, indicating that Bhutan is not randomly dumping on exchanges but is instead cashing out through over-the-counter (OTC) trades.

Bhutan’s Bitcoin reserves peaked at around 13,000 coins by the end of 2024, mainly accumulated through state-supported hydro mining over several years. Now, only 4,453 coins remain, a 66% decrease from the peak. Along with ongoing sales and declining Bitcoin prices, Bhutan’s crypto asset portfolio has fallen from a high of $1.88 billion to the current $315 million.

What has sparked market discussion is that in December last year, the Bhutanese government publicly announced the “Bitcoin Development Pledge,” claiming it would allocate 10,000 Bitcoin (then valued at about $860 million) to build the economic center “Gelephu Mindfulness City.”