«Your task is to discover your world and then give yourself to it with all your heart»
Buddha
As several mainstream and popular crypto news media have published, the government of Bhutan is currently mining intensively and holding about 13,000 BTC. The news came to light mainly driven by the public revelation provided by Arkham Intelligence who claims to have identified the wallet used by the government of Bhutan.
This does not mean that Bhutan has become fully bitcoinized because it has not yet expressly legalized the use of the asset. That is, it did not dictate any express rule indicating tolerance in its use. At the moment only El Salvador has taken that step. However, mining and holding in the hands of the Asian monarchy is a giant step made the full legal adoption of the currency. If this course continues, it will end up legalizing it, either expressly or through inaction. It would be very difficult to sustain over time for the State to mine and hold bitcoin while at the same time prohibiting or hindering this activity for its subjects or tourists.
The news has not had strong repercussions on the bitcoiner news agenda largely due to the inaction of the State regarding the communication of its actions. The absence of official communication is so strong that even from some The media has labeled the mining operation as secret. Despite the fact that, since May 2023, if not before, it has been publicly announced that the Asian country was going to mine.
However, now that the mined amount and wallet information has been made public, The King continues without communicating anything about it. Thus omitting, for the moment, the possibility of creating an official account on the issue. It is possible that non-communication is the communication strategy. Maybe it’s a strategy developed around the bitcoiner meme Stay humble, accumulate sats.
It is the opinion of this author that, if the reported facts are correct, we would be faced with a historic event of similar importance to El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin. Let’s look at some comparable points between the Asian kingdom and the first country to legalize Bitcoin.
At the moment Bhutan holds around thirteen thousand bitcoins, while El Salvador accumulated close to six thousand coins. However, the Central American country has a gross domestic product ten times greater than that of the small Asian country. So we could challenge Bukele by stating – not without some arbitrariness – that Bhutan is twenty times more bitcoiner than El Salvador. To which the Central American country could reply that Bhutan is only twenty times more “holder” but not as bitcoiner as it is. Because, since the bombastic legalization of Bitcoin, Bukele has provided a strong pro-Bitcoin speech. Both in pursuit of tourists and resident bitcoiners. In other words, you are betting on Bitcoin’s zero layer, the human and most valuable layer of the network. While Bhutan, for the moment is only betting on the token that exists only in layer one and providing security to said layer through mining.
In addition, Bukele has spoken out in favor of Bitcoin on many occasions and has even added bitcoiner personalities such as Saifedean Ammous, Max Keiser and others as consultants. While, on the contrary, the government headed by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck did not even release a statement recognizing the holding of bitcoins, much less commenting on its vision of the most solid money phenomenon in human history. Furthermore, the Asian King does not seem interested in promoting popular Bitcoin tourism, since, to enter the Kingdom of Bhutan, every non-Indian tourist must pay $40 USD Visa and $100 USD for each night who stays in the country as a tourist tax. While El Salvador has vigorously promoted bitcoiner tourism to such an extent that few consider it a kind of temporary bitcoiner Mecca. And it does so without charging entry into the country.
Another theme that we can see in common with both countries is their desire to carry out Special Economic Zones to promote certain objectives. In the case of El Salvador, the project was announced Bitcoin City and in the case of Bhutan they have the project of Mindfulness City. Idea of charter city easily appreciable from the discursive-marketing point of view, especially considering the prevailing Buddhism in the kingdom. It would be open to foreigners who establish their industries and offices in the place. This in a context that, together with cheap hydroelectric energy, tolerance in the use of bitcoin and a government with the possibility of making dynamic and lasting decisions thanks to its monarchical aspect, make a combo that could become notable in the market. live together.
We bitcoiners have the thesis that Bitcoin fixes practically everything and something that Maybe it can fix the State itself. Very difficult mission to achieve and even more difficult to demonstrate. But perhaps with enough attention we can begin to see the first States recovering from the fiat cancer they suffer from. How would we recognize a State that turned in the direction of the prevailing global authoritarianism and that began to recover its original function of protecting individual rights? I don’t know, but certainly that type of state would mine Bitcoin, hold it, and allow its residents and tourists to use it without interference. Perhaps the promised bitcoiner neo-renaissance has already begun, we just can’t see it yet because we lose perspective by being too close to the facts.
«No one saves us, except ourselves. Nobody can and nobody should. We ourselves must walk the path.”
Buddha
Camilo JdL for CriptoNoticias at 862796 timechain
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to its author and do not necessarily reflect those of CriptoNoticias. The author’s opinion is for informational purposes and under no circumstances constitutes an investment recommendation or financial advice.
