[NEWS] Bhutan announces plans to hold crypto assets such as Bitcoin as reserves in special administrative regions

On the 8th, Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a special administrative region of Bhutan, announced that it will adopt crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Build and Build (BNB) as part of its strategic reserve.

This makes GMC one of the first jurisdictions to hold crypto assets as part of its strategic reserve. The inclusion of crypto assets in GMC's strategic reserve will strengthen the economic resilience of the special administrative region and lead to further involvement in Bitcoin mining.

According to the announcement, the criteria for crypto assets to be adopted as strategic reserve are large market capitalization and high liquidity. It also states that it plans to minimize the impact of price fluctuations and make them easy to buy and sell. In addition, it will support the monitoring of on-chain transactions and aim to adopt digital assets issued on a more mature and secure blockchain.

This plan follows the announcement of "GMC Act No. 1" and "Law Application Act 2024" at the end of December last year. These laws were enacted with the aim of establishing a legal framework and regulations for companies aiming to provide financial services related to crypto assets. In addition, by including crypto assets in the strategic reserve under the established environment, the aim is to promote the growth of the crypto asset-related ecosystem in the GMC.

A meeting of government officials and industry leaders is scheduled to be held in March this year to discuss the strategic reserve and the establishment of an international advisory committee.

It has been revealed that Bhutan has been mining Bitcoin since 2019, and it is also one of the world's leading countries in Bitcoin holdings.

According to blockchain analysis company Arkham Intelligence, at the time of writing, Bhutan holds 11,688 BTC, which is equivalent to approximately 173 billion yen. In addition, it has been revealed that the country holds several altcoins, including Ethereum (ETH).

Reference: Announcement
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