Bhutan has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Cumberland DRW to facilitate Bitcoin reserve management and investigate the potential of stablecoins, cryptocurrency mining, and artificial intelligence computing within the Gelephu Mindfulness City project.
Bhutan signed a multi-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with crypto market maker Cumberland DRW to partner on creating digital asset infrastructure in the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), expanding the country’s long-term, sustainability-focused crypto strategy.
The GMC is a unique administrative territory in Bhutan aimed at attracting global talent while merging technology, sustainability and mindful development.
Building a national digital asset ecosystem
Cumberland, the digital asset subsidiary of Chicago-based trading firm DRW, is one of the leading institutional liquidity providers in crypto markets. The company has been operating in the industry since 2014 and services worldwide institutions across spot and derivatives markets.
Cumberland and Bhutan want to investigate the establishment of a national crypto ecosystem, which comprises current financial frameworks, sustainable mining and artificial intelligence compute, yield production and stablecoin infrastructure.
The program is being led by Green Digital, a GMC-linked digital infrastructure firm producing renewable-energy-powered computing facilities. The organisation is entrusted with linking digital asset development with Bhutan’s broader sustainability and economic diversification goals.
Bhutan operates on a Gross National Happiness (GNH) paradigm, which promotes community happiness over economic progress. The concept is essential to Bhutan’s national identity.
Bhutan’s clarity of vision and emphasis on sustainable development make it a natural partner for responsible and forward-looking innovation. We are honored to support Bhutan as it builds the foundations of a modern digital economy.
The agreement remains an MoU, which implies that it defines areas of collaboration rather than binding commitments. It doesn’t guarantee that specific infrastructure will be implemented.
Bhutan’s leadership in crypto and green energy
Bhutan is one of the world’s earliest sovereign Bitcoin miners, harnessing surplus hydropower to amass a national Bitcoin reserve through green energy.
Bhutan has also integrated digital assets into the GMC’s strategic reserves, facilitated crypto-based payments across tourist and merchant services and developed TER, a sovereign-backed digital token connected to physical gold.
Taken together, Bhutan’s actions position the country as a rare example of a state addressing Bitcoin, stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure as long-term economic tools rather than speculative experiments.