Bhutan, in its acceleration to adopt Web3 in every-day tasks, is set to enter the next phase blockchain upgrade. The country is set to unveil the Sei validator that will increase Bhutan’s blockchain infrastructure abilities. A Sei validator is part of the Sei blockchain that processes transactions for the ecosystem, maintains network consensus, and generate SEI token rewards for the Proof-of-Stake network.
Bhutan’s Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) has partnered with the Sei Development Foundation to deploy this validator there. DHI is the holding company of Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund.
DHI’s InnoTech division will be overseeing the Sei validator’s deployment in Bhutan — which is slated to be complete within the first quarter of 2026 that is between January and March.
“Our collaboration is a significant investment in national blockchain adoption, further expands Sei’s global validator footprint, and will set the stage for us to partner on innovative projects like payments, tokenization, and personal identification into the future,” said Eleanor Davies, Science and Innovation Lead at Sei Development Foundation.
In January 2025, Sei Foundation had launched Sapien Capital — a $65 million venture fund to work on projects being built on the Layer-1 Sei blockchain. This investment arm of the Sei ecosystem is also supporting this adoption push in Bhutan.
“This collaboration marks an exciting step toward strengthening Bhutan’s role in global blockchain innovation while unlocking new pathways for data valuation, scientific advancement, and financial technology,” said Phuntsho Namgay, Head of the DHI Department of Innovation and Technology as commenting on the development.
The mainnet of the Sei blockchain was launched in August 2023 by a group of people associated with brands like Robinhood, Google, and Goldman Sachs.
Bhutan’s tango with crypto
During the recently held Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, Bhutan got a special shout out for undertaking national initiatives to accelerate blockchain research, development, and use-cases. Its native token $SEI is presently trading at $0.1069, as per CoinMarketCap.
In December 2025, Bhutan declared a national BTC development pledge with BTC 10,000 set aside.
The country has also signed an MoU with Cumberland DRW to facilitate Bitcoin reserve management.
With Binance, Bhutan is promoting crypto-friendly tourism options for visitors allowing them to pay for everyday expenses using BTC.