Bhutan shifts 100 BTC; 2026 bitcoin outflows exceed $230M

The Royal Government of Bhutan moved about 100.44 BTC, roughly $8.2 million, in three transactions at 5:27 a.m. UTC on Tuesday to an unlabeled address beginning with “bc1qn,” according to onchain analytics firm Arkham.

Arkham reported the transfers pushed bitcoin outflows from government-labeled addresses in 2026 past $230 million, averaging about $50 million per month so far this year.

Bhutan’s government bitcoin holdings are custodied by Druk Holding & Investments. Arkham’s data show the sovereign holds about 3,119 BTC, valued at roughly $252.3 million, down from a peak near 13,000 BTC in October 2024 and lower by nearly 3,000 BTC year-to-date.

Some earlier withdrawals from addresses linked to the government were traced to cryptocurrency exchange deposits and an account at investment manager Galaxy Digital. Arkham noted the recent transfers could also reflect consolidation from older address types into a newer format rather than immediate sales.

Bitcoin address formats have evolved over time. Legacy addresses start with “1,” Pay-to-Script-Hash addresses start with “3,” native SegWit addresses start with “bc1q,” and Taproot addresses begin with “bc1p.” Moving funds from a “3” address to a “bc1q” address can reduce transaction costs and improve efficiency.

Arkham flagged a slowdown in visible mining inflows to Bhutan’s labeled addresses; the last inflow above $100,000 occurred more than a year ago.

Bitcoin Treasuries data rank Bhutan as the eighth-largest known nation-state holder by publicly traceable balances, after the United States (328,372 BTC), China (190,000 BTC), the United Kingdom (61,245 BTC), Ukraine (46,351 BTC), El Salvador (7,649 BTC), the United Arab Emirates (6,420 BTC) and Kazakhstan (3,544 BTC).

Arkham estimated that a complete onchain disposal of Bhutan’s remaining traceable holdings at current market prices would produce about $767 million in onchain profit, a figure that assumes full disposal and traceability of all holdings.

Market observers will monitor subsequent onchain movements for clearer signs of exchange deposits, sales or further internal consolidation of Bhutan’s bitcoin reserves.