Blockchain analytics firm Nansen will establish a local entity in Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City, incorporating within the Special Administrative Region as it advances its digital asset strategy.
The company plans to build on-the-ground analytics capabilities to provide blockchain data and market intelligence to industry participants operating in the region, according to a joint announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
Chief executive Alex Svanevik said the move adds to Nansen’s existing Singapore operations rather than replacing them, noting that the firm “chose GMC because of the vision behind it.”
“Bhutan is building something fundamentally different — a values-driven economic zone with digital assets baked into the foundation, not bolted on as an afterthought,”
Svanevik said, adding that the country’s sovereign conviction and crypto reserves made it “rare.”
Nansen intends to hire locally and develop a “meaningful local team” in the coming months, though specific staffing targets and office details have not yet been disclosed.
Gelephu Mindfulness City, announced in 2023, is positioned as a long-term economic hub offering regulatory flexibility for crypto and fintech firms, with initiatives spanning custody infrastructure, tokenisation, institutional liquidity and regulatory frameworks.
Bhutan, which holds an estimated 11,286 Bitcoin and has considered allocating up to 10,000 BTC to support GMC’s development, is spearheading its digital asset strategy through Druk Holding and Investments, which began accumulating cryptocurrencies in 2019 to convert surplus hydropower into foreign-currency liquidity.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $64,095.95.