El Salvador’s Bitcoin Stash Rises Above $500M, but Bhutan Story Might Be Even Bigger

Bitcoin’s face-ripping rally on Monday pushed the value of El Salvador’s BTC above $500 million and the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan’s holdings above $1 billion.

Data from El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office shows the country’s bitcoin stack at just less than 5,932 tokens. With the price at $87,000 at press time, that’s worth roughly $516 million.

Impressive as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin bet might be, the Kingdom of Bhutan’s story might be even better.

The tiny South Asian state, with a population of just 800,000 (vs. El Salvador at 6.4 million), is sitting on a bitcoin stash of 12,574 tokens, per Arkham Intelligence, worth $1.1 billion at the current price.

Put another way, the value of Bhutan’s bitcoin holdings amounts to more than one-third of the country’s GDP of just under $3 billion. El Salvador’s $500 million in bitcoin amounts to just 1.5% of its GDP.

Bhutan’s holdings have reportedly been accumulated through bitcoin mining, as the Himalayan nation has an abundance of hydroelectric power. The country, in September, was reported by Arkham to likely to be the fourth biggest nation-state bitcoin holder.

After purchasing bitcoin on a few occasions during the 2021 bull run, El Salvador began dollar-cost-averaging into the top cryptocurrency in November 2022, and was in the black on its holdings by December 2023, according to Bukele. El Salvador’s bitcoin strategy has been a constant sticking point with the International Monetary Fund, which has raised concerns about the nation’s fiscal situation.

But that situation apparently continues to improve. The country today said that it intends to buy back $2.5 billion of its dollar-denominated debt. According to Bloomberg, El Salvador’s debt has returned 4.7% since the election of Donald Trump last week.