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Bhutan's GMC puts part of its bitcoin treasury to work with 3iQ on market-neutral strategy
Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City hired Toronto-based 3iQ to manage a portion of its 10,000 BTC national reserve using a market-neutral investment approach to generate long-term returns. The mandate size and specific strategy remain undisclosed.
Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a special administrative region in southern Bhutan, awarded Toronto-based 3iQ Corp. a mandate to manage part of its bitcoin treasury using a market-neutral investment approach to generate long-term returns, according to CoinDesk. Rather than hold the reserve passively, GMC selected 3iQ to deploy capital through low-risk strategies that can include basis trades and lending. Market-neutral strategies typically yield at least 5 percent annually in general market conditions, per CoinDesk's reporting.
GMC declined to disclose the size of the mandate to CoinDesk, making the initiative's scale impossible to assess. Neither GMC nor 3iQ has revealed where the bitcoin under management originates. This lack of transparency follows reporting in May 2026 that roughly $1 billion in bitcoin had left wallets attributed to Bhutan's sovereign fund, a fact disputed by Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of Druk Holdings, the government's commercial arm, who said he did not recall the last time the company sold any bitcoin. GMC also did not specify which market-neutral strategy 3iQ will deploy, though the framework allows for multiple approaches.
In December 2025, Bhutan's king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, pledged up to 10,000 BTC, then worth approximately $1 billion. The allocation was described as a long-term national asset for GMC's development, with collateralization, treasury strategies, or holding all listed as possible uses under consideration. The 3iQ mandate represents the first disclosed deployment of that reserve for productive returns. GMC framed the arrangement as generating employment and skills development for Bhutanese youth in technology and finance, though those programs are still being worked through and not yet operational.
GMC hired 3iQ to deploy part of Bhutan's bitcoin reserve through market-neutral strategies including basis trades and lending, rather than hold it passively.
Watch for disclosure of the mandate size, the specific market-neutral strategy deployed, and which portion of the original 10,000 BTC remains held separately as a long-term national asset. The credibility of the initiative depends on resolving the discrepancy between the May reports of $1 billion in outflows and official denials of sales. Transparency on the bitcoin's origin and 3iQ's fee structure will be critical to assessing whether this represents a genuine productive deployment or a cosmetic repositioning of existing reserves.
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