Is Bhutan Selling Bitcoin? Government Sparks Sell-Off Concerns as BTC Crashes

Bhutan’s government has triggered fresh Bhutan Bitcoin sale speculation after on-chain data showed multiple BTC transfers. The moves came as Bitcoin dropped about 19% in a week and traded in the mid-$60,000s. However, on-chain records do not confirm an outright sale, since the BTC moved to unknown wallets rather than a clear exchange address.

Bhutan Bitcoin Sale Speculation Grows 

Arkham data showed that two days ago, the Royal Government of Bhutan sent 184.028 BTC to a wallet starting with “bc1q0…”. The transfer was valued at roughly $14.09 million at the time. 

In addition, five days ago, Arkham data showed another transfer tied to Bhutan. The Royal Government of Bhutan sent 100.818 BTC to a wallet likely belonging to the trading firm QCP Capital. 

The BTC transfer carried an estimated value of $8.31 million. However, the available wallet data does not confirm that the coins were sold. Instead, the transfers only show funds leaving the Druk Holding-labeled wallet.

Meanwhile, Bhutan also moved stablecoins. One day ago, Arkham data showed 1.5 million USDT transferred from the Royal Government of Bhutan to a Binance hot wallet. The transaction value was $1.5 million, which further leads to questions about whether Bhutan was repositioning assets.

BTC Netflows Turn Negative 

Beyond Bhutan-linked transfers, broader Bitcoin flow data shows consistent outflows. As per Coinglass, BTC netflows turned increasingly negative in late January and early February. Several large red spikes reached roughly negative $300 million to negative $450 million around Jan. 29 and Feb. 1–2.

In addition to heavy outflows, Bitcoin’s price continued to crash. BTC slid from around $90,000–$92,000 to about $66,000–$68,000 by Feb. 5. This dip shows there are other reasons for the decline, not just spot selling.

Source: Coinglass

Analyst Lark Davis described the Bitcoin dip as “totally price insensitive selling.” He also questioned whether ETFs were “rushing for the exits.” Davis added that daily RSI readings were among the worst in a decade, close to COVID crash levels.

He also said “all longs” had been liquidated, while $25 billion in shorts piled into the market. However, he noted panic selling still made the outlook uncertain. Davis also stated BTC’s daily RSI became more oversold than at any point during the 2022 bear market.

Schiff and Sigel Weigh In as Deleveraging Accelerates

Economist Peter Schiff also commented on the downturn, stating Bitcoin was down nearly 50% from its peak without what he called a true crash. He argued the bear market would not end without a deeper breakdown.

Meanwhile, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, pointed to deleveraging as a major driver. Sigel said BTC futures open interest fell from roughly $61 billion to about $49 billion in one week. He added that futures open interest had dropped over 45% from its early October peak above $90 billion.

Sigel also estimated total crypto liquidations reached $3 billion to $4 billion over the past week. He said $2 billion to $2.5 billion of that likely came from Bitcoin futures. He also noted spot Bitcoin ETF assets under management fell by more than $5 billion in one month.