Buddhist Kingdom’s Bold Move into Bitcoin

A stunning landlocked nation nestled between India and China, Bhutan has made headlines by accumulating significant bitcoin (BTC) holdings totaling over $780 million in recent years. This amount represents nearly one-third of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), positioning Bhutan as the holder of the fourth-largest state-owned stash of BTC, as revealed by the on-chain analytics tool Arkham.

Known for its unique approach to governance, Bhutan emphasizes the happiness of its fewer than 900,000 citizens as a more meaningful metric of well-being than traditional economic indicators. This Himalayan kingdom has become the second nation, following El Salvador, to officially embrace BTC as part of its national strategy, incorporating it into the state-owned Druk Holdings fund.

According to Arkham, Bhutan has established bitcoin mining facilities across various locations, with the most significant operation situated on the site of the now-defunct Education City project. Unlike many governments that acquire BTC through asset seizures related to law enforcement, Bhutan’s holdings have originated from extensive bitcoin mining activities, which have seen a remarkable increase since early 2023.

These mining operations are likely connected to Bitdeer (BTDR), a prominent player in the cryptocurrency mining sector. In 2023, the Singapore-based firm announced its collaboration with the Bhutanese government to develop cryptocurrency mining operations in Southeast Asia, successfully raising over $500 million for this ambitious venture. Following this announcement, Bitdeer disclosed that it had completed the first phase of a 100 megawatt (MW) mining facility.

Looking ahead, Bitdeer announced plans to expand Bhutan’s mining capacity to a staggering 600 MW by 2025, reflecting the growing significance of this initiative.

Despite its small geographic size, even smaller than Switzerland, Bhutan faces challenges such as limited economic diversification and an underdeveloped private sector. The nation primarily relies on sectors like hydropower, tourism, and agriculture to generate revenue. In 2022, Bhutan’s GDP was recorded at just under $3 billion, approximately half that of the Maldives.

To bolster its economy, Druk Holdings is exploring opportunities across various sectors. The organization’s website highlights “digital assets” as a key focus area in its technology-driven investment strategy, which also includes projects in hydropower and emerging digital realms like the metaverse.

Recent activities in the Druk wallets, as monitored by Arkham, indicate a flurry of deposit and withdrawal transactions in recent weeks. The fund has received multiple deposits of up to 2 BTC from Foundry, another mining entity, as well as from other unidentified bitcoin addresses during the past week. Additionally, Druk Holdings has periodically transferred bitcoin to various addresses, including crypto exchanges. One notable transaction from early July involved a transfer of over $25 million worth of BTC sent to the crypto exchange Kraken, suggesting that it was likely sold to capitalize on market conditions.

Meta Takes Strong Action Against Russian Media Outlets

On Monday, Meta announced a significant initiative to prohibit Russian media outlets, including the state-funded television network RT, from utilizing its platforms. This decision comes in light of ongoing scrutiny in the United States regarding these outlets’ involvement in covert influence campaigns designed to manipulate online discourse across various social media platforms.

Meta, the parent company of popular applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, stated that the ban would be implemented in the coming days. This decisive action marks an escalation in the ongoing efforts to combat Russian state media actors, which U.S. intelligence officials have identified as key players in disinformation operations that span the globe, infiltrating the world’s largest social networking sites.

In a formal statement, Meta expressed, “After thorough consideration, we have expanded our current enforcement measures against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related entities are now prohibited from our applications worldwide due to their involvement in foreign interference activities.”

Recently, U.S. authorities have tightened their grip on RT, particularly for its attempts to meddle in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November. On Friday, the United States, in conjunction with Canada and Britain, accused RT of functioning as a conduit for Russian intelligence agencies. They announced new sanctions aimed at curtailing international funding sources that support disinformation campaigns globally.

This crackdown follows the federal indictment of two RT employees, who allegedly funneled at least $9.7 million to finance American podcasters on Tenet Media, a video-streaming service based in Tennessee. The goal was to amplify the Kremlin’s propaganda and undermine the integrity of the American democratic process.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken emphasized the broader implications of these tactics, stating, “We’re revealing how Russia employs similar strategies globally.” He further noted, “The Russian weaponization of disinformation to destabilize and polarize free and open societies is a challenge that impacts every corner of the world.”

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) Crypto Project Announcement

The team behind the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) crypto initiative, which has garnered attention through endorsements from former President Donald Trump and his sons, recently confirmed during a live audio stream on X Spaces that they are preparing to launch a governance token. This token, as clarified by the team, will be non-transferable and will not confer any economic rights to its holders. The project’s focus is on attracting participants interested in governance rather than those seeking financial returns.

In terms of distribution, 63% of the token supply will be available for public sale, while 17% is earmarked for user rewards and the remaining 20% allocated to the team. CoinDesk reported earlier on some preliminary details of the project, which included a draft white paper. Currently, the token will only be offered to accredited investors, operating under a Regulation D exemption from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This exemption allows companies to raise capital without needing to register their securities with the SEC, primarily targeting accredited investors or engaging in small, private offerings.

Zak Folkman, one of the project’s founders, articulated the vision during the stream, stating, “Our goal is to build projects that are easy and simple to use, where you don’t need to phone a friend to get a walkthrough.” Although the team did not disclose a specific launch date for the token during the nearly two-and-a-half-hour session, they attracted an impressive audience of over 100,000 listeners.

Polymarket Betting Insights

A Polymarket contract that questioned whether Trump would launch a coin before the upcoming election saw its ‘Yes’ side peak at over 80% during the live broadcast. However, as the stream concluded, the percentage dropped to as low as 22%. Throughout the discussion, several members of the Trump family participated, sharing their perspectives on the cryptocurrency landscape.

• Donald Trump Jr. expressed his belief that decentralized finance (DeFi) aligns with the ideals of the founding fathers, emphasizing that it restores fairness to the financial system. He noted, “Venture Capitalists are flipping sides over crypto,” citing endorsements from prominent figures like David Sacks and Elon Musk.
• Eric Trump added that DeFi must become more user-friendly for the average person, sharing his own challenges while “looping Ethereum on Aave,” a decentralized lending platform.
• Former President Donald Trump participated in the X Spaces session for the first 40 minutes, where he refrained from discussing the project directly. Instead, he offered his views on the evolving landscape of crypto public policy, stating, “Crypto’s one of those things we have to do, whether we like it or not.”

In a related Polymarket contract that invited users to speculate on what Trump would say during the stream, options included terms like “Solana,” “Memecoin,” “Milady,” and “Doge.” Despite these themes being present in the betting market, the former president did not mention any of them during the discussion. He did, however, reference “Crypto” multiple times—over five occurrences—and made a single mention of “NFT.”