Blockchain analytics firm Nansen announced on February 24, 2026, that it will establish a local entity and build a team within Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a Special Administrative Region designed as a hub for digital innovation and sustainable economic growth. This strategic expansion aims to provide on-the-ground analytics capabilities, blockchain data, and market intelligence to participants in the region's developing digital asset ecosystem.
According to a joint announcement, Nansen plans to incorporate within GMC while maintaining its existing operations in Singapore. CEO Alex Svanevik emphasized that the company chose GMC because of its unique, forward-looking vision. "Most crypto-friendly jurisdictions are optimizing for what exists today. Bhutan is building something fundamentally different — a values-driven economic zone with digital assets baked into the foundation, not bolted on as an afterthought," Svanevik stated. He highlighted that GMC has crypto in its strategic reserves, a progressive regulatory framework, and genuine sovereign conviction behind it, which he described as rare.
Nansen intends to hire locally to build a "meaningful local team," with specific details on roles and office setup expected in the coming months. The company, which describes itself as an AI-native onchain analytics platform tracking over 500 million labeled blockchain addresses, will develop analytics infrastructure to support transparency and informed decision-making within GMC.
This move aligns with GMC's broader digital asset strategy. Announced in 2023, GMC is a purpose-built economic zone focused on creating high-value jobs and attracting businesses across finance, green technology, healthcare, and agriculture, while offering regulatory flexibility for crypto and fintech firms. In a significant commitment to this strategy, the Bhutanese government announced in December 2025 that it would allocate up to 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) from its national holdings to support the city's development, exploring treasury and yield strategies for these assets.
Bhutan holds one of the world's largest national Bitcoin reserves, estimated at over 11,000 BTC as of late 2025, originally accumulated starting in 2019 to convert surplus hydropower into foreign-currency liquidity. The country's crypto strategy is spearheaded by Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), the commercial arm of the royal government.
Nansen is not the first digital asset company to enter GMC. In December 2025, crypto market maker Cumberland DRW signed a memorandum of understanding to help develop digital asset infrastructure in the region, including financial frameworks, sustainable mining, and stablecoin infrastructure. Nansen's expansion further solidifies GMC's position as a government-backed digital asset hub, bringing critical analytics expertise to support ecosystem growth and institutional participation.
