The Royal Government of Bhutan has moved 490.87 BTC worth roughly $32.74 million to fresh wallets over the past 24 hours, according to blockchain analytics firm Onchain Lens. The largest transaction accounted for 485 BTC, valued at about $32.31 million, while smaller transfers made up the rest. Onchain Lens did not identify the new recipients as exchanges or trading firms and did not confirm whether the transfers represented sales.
The movement continues a pattern of large state-linked Bitcoin transfers throughout 2026. On August 18, Bhutan transferred 300 BTC worth about $19.28 million to a new wallet. By May, state-linked outflows had surpassed $230 million for the year, according to Arkham Intelligence. In March, Bhutan moved 519.7 BTC worth about $36.7 million, with one recipient linked to trading firm QCP Capital. Earlier transfers reached Binance and Galaxy Digital, but Arkham noted that movements to unidentified wallets cannot automatically be treated as confirmed sales. Bhutan’s identified BTC holdings have fallen from a peak of more than 13,000 BTC in October 2024 to 4,453 BTC by March 25.
Bhutan built its Bitcoin position primarily through state-backed hydroelectric mining, overseen by Druk Holding & Investments. Its infrastructure was expanded with Bitdeer Technologies, with plans for 600 MW of mining capacity. In December 2025, Bhutan announced a Bitcoin Development Pledge tied to Gelephu Mindfulness City, pledging up to 10,000 BTC for the city’s long-term development. In July 2026, Gelephu appointed digital asset manager 3iQ to oversee part of its BTC treasury, and in August, Bitget signed a cooperation agreement with the city authority.
Separately, Bitcoin miners are spending heavily on artificial intelligence and high-performance computing while AI revenue remains relatively small. According to BlocksBridge Consulting, nine public Bitcoin miners spent $5.11 billion on capital assets in the first half of 2026 but earned only $341.2 million in AI and HPC revenue, a ratio of about 15-to-1. Across a broader group of 15 miners and AI data-center companies, total capital spending reached $30.7 billion, already 42.6% more than all of 2025. Still, AI and HPC revenue is growing: the group generated $205.8 million in Q2 2026, up 52% from the first quarter, with Core Scientific, TeraWulf, and Bitdeer among those reporting gains.
HIVE Digital Technologies signed a five-year, $350 million AI cloud contract through its BUZZ High Performance Computing unit. The deal requires 2,016 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra GPUs in GB300 NVL72 systems at its Bell AI Fabric facility in British Columbia. Hardware and related costs are expected to total $185 million, with deployment targeted for Q4 2026. The customer agreed to an upfront deposit of about $35 million, roughly 10% of the contract value, though HIVE has not confirmed receipt. HIVE reported $180 million in annual recurring revenue, but only $35 million is currently live; the remaining $145 million depends on hardware being delivered, installed, and commissioned on time. Once fully operational, HIVE expects the new infrastructure to generate about $500,000 in daily revenue.
Ionic Digital also pivoted to AI infrastructure, with AI leasing generating $43.8 million, or 90% of its $48.6 million total Q2 revenue, while Bitcoin mining contributed just $4.8 million. CoinShares signaled the broader shift by rebranding its mining-focused ETF to include data center operators, AI semiconductor companies, and HPC businesses. Bitcoin’s price provided some relief, surging more than 13% this week to above $72,000 after the US Treasury said it would at least double its long-term bond buyback program to $4 billion per operation.
