Bhutan has put Millions in Crypto

The investment arm of the Government of Bhutan, Druk Holdings and Investment (DHI), is reportedly investing millions in cryptocurrency. DHI holds shares in selected companies on behalf of the government and is also the investment arm of the Ministry of Finance, with the ministry being the sole shareholder of DHI. The investment priorities of DHI include commercially viable long projects and reserved sectors where the private sector may not have the capacity, and there is a long gestation period on the returns of investments. DHI owns Drukair, Bhutan Telecom and Bhutan Power Corporation.

According to reports from Forbes, Druk Holdings has ties to Voyager and FTX, and the company’s connections to the crypto industry were revealed in documents related to BlockFi’s lawsuit and Celsius bankruptcy proceedings. The documents show that DHI made deposits and withdrawals worth millions in various digital assets from bitcoin to ether to USDC. Two Druk entities are mentioned in the Celsius documents – DHI and the Druk Holding and Investments Druk Project Fund.

BlockFi sued Druk after the lender was forced to call in the investment fund’s loan, which was for $30 million in USDC, and Druk did not repay the $800,000 it owed after BlockFi sold its bitcoin collateral. The Celsius and BlockFi bankruptcy proceedings followed the collapses of the TerraUSD stablecoin and FTX.

Druk’s CEO, Ujjwal Deep Dahal, declined to comment on the matter due to confidentiality, as the dispute with BlockFi has been settled. The purpose of DHI is to safeguard the national wealth, manage and enhance such wealth through prudent investments. The investments made by DHI in cryptocurrency have never been publicly disclosed, and the withdrawals, deposits and loans in the digital asset space have only been made public through court documents related to bankruptcy cases.