Based on various estimations, DHI invested over $100 million in crypto.
Bhutan's sovereign wealth fund, Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), has been secretly investing millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies through now-bankrupt crypto firms BlockFi and Celsius.
According to a Forbes news report shared on April 15th, the quiet investments were disclosed after both BlockFi and Celsius filed for bankruptcy. In particular, all acquisitions were clearly recorded in BlockFi and Celsius bankruptcy documents.
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On top of that, Forbes revealed that DHI's crypto investments had never been publically disclosed. It is claimed that the Kingdom of Bhutan invested in cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, Ether, and so on.
Forbes' report reveals that Celsius filings indicated DHI withdrew over $65 million and deposited nearly $18 million in crypto. On top of that, data show that DHI made several trades between April and June 2022, "depositing, withdrawing and borrowing Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT) and a handful of other cryptocurrencies."
Meanwhile, BlockFi's lawyers filed a complaint against DHI, accusing the fund of defaulting on a $30 million loan. BlockFi alleged that DHI liquidated the 1,888 Bitcoin collateral, valued at $76.5 million, at the time but "failed and refused" to repay the loan.
The Forbes report claims that it contacted DHI's CEO, Ujjwal Deep Dahal, who responded to the allegations by stating:
We do not have any comments as the matter with BlockFi has been settled. We are not able to comment due to confidentiality.
DHI's CEO declined to comment on the crypto investment made via Celsius. It is worth noting that BlockFi filed for bankruptcy at the end of November 2022, while Celsius declared bankruptcy in July 2022.
In 2021, the Kingdom of Bhutan joined forces with crypto exchange Ripple to launch a pilot on the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC).
