Bhutan’s BTC, ETH and BNB reserves could pave the way for economic growth in other countries

Bhutan, a small country in South Asia, is making big waves in the world of cryptocurrencies.

The kingdom, which has a population of about 770,000 and is located between India, China and Nepal, has just made headlines after one of its cities was occupied. Adopt a crypto reserve strategy. This includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance’s BNB token (BNB).

El Salvador has previously made bitcoin part of the country’s national reserve, and several other countries, including the United States, are considering similar measures to boost its already strong economy.

But Bhutan could set an example for smaller countries, where making cryptocurrencies part of its national reserve strategy could have a massive economic impact.

“They are bringing out loaded weapons to show the world what is possible in the digital assets space by bringing in foreign companies to help capitalize on the growing global interest in cryptocurrencies as a whole,” said Philip Shoemaker, CEO of Identity.com. A non-profit organization that provides decentralized identity verification.

“I see this move as likely to trigger similar actions among other governments around the world, especially in small countries that are subject to the whims of foreign exchange rate fluctuations and geopolitical uncertainty,” he said.

According to A a report The World Bank released a report in May this year, and although Bhutan has a fairly strong economy, downside risks remain as the country’s fiscal deficit is expected to widen. The report indicated that ensuring economic growth requires attracting more foreign investments.

Bhutan listened and acted by creating Gelephu City of Mind, a district that is adopting cryptocurrencies as part of its program. The goal of “vigilance, sustainability and innovation”.

“The special economic zone being created helps attract foreign investment, so the accumulation of digital assets in general could be really compelling internationally,” Shoemaker said.

Bhutan was already well placed to make this move. The country has An estimated 24,000 MW of hydropower potential is technically feasibleOf which only about 7% has been developed so far.

“It gets a lot of its electricity from hydro sources, and it makes sense for them to focus on the mining side of it,” Shoemaker said.

Bitcoin mining requires enormous energy, which has raised concerns about the negative environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining. However, using hydropower solves this problem because it is more cost effective and reduces the carbon footprint of miners.

In April 2019, the country began using massive amounts of hydroelectric power to start mining Bitcoin, according to a report condition By Forbes. Today, the country owns more than 11,000 bitcoins, worth about $1.1 billion, according to data on the subject. Arkham. This puts Bhutan among the top five countries that hold Bitcoin in their reserves, according to Bloomberg. Bitcoin Treasuries Data.

“Bitcoin mining, in particular, is a good tool for leveraging different forms of renewable and renewable energy,” said Jagdeep Sidhu, core developer at Syscoin and president of the Syscoin Foundation. “I imagine other governments are increasingly looking to Bhutan as an example of how to unlock their own Bitcoin reserves, especially countries that have abundant sources of energy that would otherwise be wasted.”