Key Takeaways:
Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City hired 3iQ to professionally manage a portion of its bitcoin reserves, marking a milestone in sovereign digital asset treasury management.
3iQ Corp. secured a mandate to manage a portion of Gelephu Mindfulness City's bitcoin reserves, the Canadian digital asset manager said Thursday.
"To be entrusted by GMC in this capacity is a significant responsibility, and one we take seriously," Pascal St-Jean, director and chief executive officer at 3iQ, said.
In December 2025, Bhutan said it would allocate as many as 10,000 bitcoin from its national holdings to support the city's development. The partnership represents the first deployment of those reserves under professional institutional management. 3iQ will also establish a long-term presence in Gelephu and invest in local talent and knowledge transfer, according to the statement.
The deal positions Gelephu as a potential digital offshore financial hub and could encourage other sovereign entities to adopt institutional-grade bitcoin treasury strategies. GMC and 3iQ plan to announce additional milestones in the coming months.
Founded in 2012, 3iQ is one of the largest alternative digital asset managers globally and a subsidiary of Coincheck Group N.V., which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker CNCK. The firm launched the first bitcoin and ethereum exchange-traded products listed on a major global stock exchange and manages a digital assets managed account platform called QMAP. It also integrated staking into its ethereum and solana ETPs to boost investor returns.
GMC selected 3iQ for its institutional track record, Jigdrel Singay, board director of Gelephu Mindfulness City, said in the statement. "Beyond their institutional expertise and global track record in digital asset management, what stood out to us was their genuine commitment to investing in people, transferring knowledge and building local capabilities," Singay said. "We see this as the start of a broader ecosystem that will attract leading asset managers, investment firms and talent from around the world."
The Gelephu Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region, located in southern Bhutan, is a development initiative centered on mindfulness, sustainability and innovation. It aims to integrate traditional Bhutanese values with global legal frameworks while harnessing the kingdom's renewable energy resources.
Bitcoin traded at $64,020 as of 02:30 UTC Thursday, down 0.7% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
