Rapid Fire
Bhutan’s Green Cryptocurrency Mining for Economic Growth
- 24 Apr 2025
- 2 min read
Bhutan is exploring the mining of green cryptocurrencies using its 100% hydropower-generated electricity to drive economic growth
- Cryptocurrency Mining: It is the process of using powerful computers to solve complex mathematical problems (cryptographic algorithms that secure the blockchain) to validate transactions and add them to a distributed ledger.
- This process ensures the security of digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and miners are rewarded with newly created coins, introducing fresh currency into circulation.
- Green Cryptocurrencies: Digital currencies mined using clean energy sources like hydropower, wind, or solar power, contrasting with fossil fuel-based mining and supporting the global green economy.
- Strategic Sovereign Investment: Since 2019, Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund has invested in cryptocurrencies, using profits to support public spending.
- Bhutan plans to sell its "green" coins to global companies aiming to meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets, potentially opening a new stream of sustainable foreign investments.
- With youth unemployment at 16.5% in 2024 and a rising brain drain, Bhutan aims to retain talent by training youth in blockchain and AI, linking tech education with job creation.
- Hydropower Expansion: Bhutan aims to expand hydropower capacity from 3.5 GW to 15 GW in the next 10–15 years, with a long-term target of 33 GW to support mining and economic diversification.
| Read more: Cryptocurrency and Blockchain |
