Wallets tagged to the Royal Government of Bhutan sent 485 BTC, worth about $32.31 million, out of the government’s holdings on Aug. 19, 2026, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence. A second transfer of 1.337 BTC, worth roughly $100,670, followed on Aug. 21, about 38 hours later.
The two transactions anchor a wider run of activity from the same tagged wallets. Arkham’s activity log shows 491.212 BTC moving out in total, worth approximately $32.74 million combined at the time of transfer.
The 485 BTC transfer and the other smaller transfers during the same period went to one address associated with the Bhutan-linked wallets. The 1.337 BTC transfer was different, going to a separate address.
This means the visible transactions involved two destination addresses in total, with the 1.337 BTC being the only transfer sent to the separate address.
The shift comes about two weeks after Gelephu Mindfulness City, the special administrative region Bhutan is funding partly with bitcoin, hired asset manager 3iQ Corp to handle part of its treasury, without saying how much.
On Aug. 1, Gelephu Mindfulness City, the region Bhutan pledged up to 10,000 bitcoin to help fund back in December, said it had hired Toronto-based 3iQ Corp to manage part of its treasury under a market-neutral strategy 3iQ has said typically targets yields above 5% a year. Gelephu did not disclose the size of the mandate or which wallets it covers.
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin reclaimed $78,000 on Aug. 21, 2026, around 09:00 UTC, with the cryptocurrency up 8.23% over 24 hours, 23.73% over the past week, and 17.8% over the past month.
The Royal Government of Bhutan sent 300 BTC, worth about $19.28 million, to a newly created wallet on Aug. 18. Further movements included 4.546 BTC, 0.323 BTC, and 0.006 BTC on Aug. 19, followed by another 1.337 BTC on Aug. 21.
In March 2026, Bhutan transferred 519.7 BTC worth about $36.75 million, adding to a series of large Bitcoin movements as its tracked holdings continued to decline from the 2024 peak.
By May 2026, Bhutan-linked Bitcoin wallets had fallen from roughly 13,000 BTC in October 2024 to about 3,100 BTC. More than $1 billion in BTC had reportedly moved from wallets attributed to Druk Holding and Investments to exchanges and trading firms since mid-2025.
Despite the transfers, DHI CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal said he does not recall the fund selling Bitcoin. The movements could involve sales, custody changes, lending, collateral arrangements, or OTC activity, as transfers to exchanges alone.
Further major transfers were recorded in March and April 2026, including 374.9 BTC on March 31 and 319.7 BTC on April 9, highlighting the continued decline in Bhutan-linked wallet balances.
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