Bitcoin Profitability Rising, Will Bhutan Sell?

According to Arkham Intelligence, the government of Bhutan, which holds over $900 million worth of BTC, moved some of its assets to exchanges yesterday, sparking speculation that it is on the verge of selling some of its holdings, in a move that could negatively impact market prices.

With the leading cryptocurrency approaching peak levels above $73,500, Bhutan moved $65 million worth of bitcoins to crypto exchange Binance. According to CoinDesk Indices, BTC fell to around $72,400 this morning.

The small and picturesque Southeast Asian country emerged as a BTC whale after Arkham spotted Bhutanese wallets earlier this year. This means that the country is the second country after El Salvador to officially hold BTC.

The country’s bitcoin holdings represent about a third of its gross domestic product (GDP), and the assets are acquired through mining operations run by state-owned Druk Holdings. The activities are associated with Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR), which is expanding its mining facilities in the country and targeting a capacity of 600 megawatts by 2025.

Bhutan’s investment in digital assets is part of Druk’s strategy to diversify its revenue streams. Recent wallet activity shows that both deposits and withdrawals have been made, including major transactions with exchanges such as Kraken.

Druk wallets monitored by Arkham have also seen deposit and withdrawal activity over the last few weeks. Last week, approximately 2 BTC was obtained from Foundry, another miner, and several unidentified Bitcoin addresses.

Research from CoinDesk shows that market activity may slow its climb to a record as bitcoin holders take profits and try to increase their earnings. While profit-taking has not abated since the research was published on October 17, all-time highs appear within reach.

The report states that although the profit realized in bitcoin peaked on October 8 and started to slow down, profit purchases were higher than the annual average.

As of today, 99.7% of the supply in circulation appears to be profitable, and it is reported that there is a realized profit of $1.5 billion. According to Glassnode data, most of these profits come from large organizations with at least 100 BTC.