Canadian Firm 3iQ Selected to Oversee Bitcoin Holdings for Bhutan's Gelephu Project
Canadian digital asset manager 3iQ has been selected to oversee a portion of the Bitcoin treasury for Gelephu Mindfulness City as the Bhutanese region builds a digital asset financial center.
Canadian digital-asset management firm 3iQ has been selected by Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) to oversee a mandate supported by a portion of its Bitcoin reserves as the special administrative region works toward establishing a digital-asset investment center.
The partnership arrangement will see 3iQ managing a yet-to-be-disclosed amount of Bitcoin earmarked for supporting the development of Gelephu. Additionally, the Canadian firm will set up a permanent operational presence within the city, make investments in developing local talent, and deliver training programs along with knowledge transfer initiatives.
Back in December 2025, the Kingdom of Bhutan made public its decision to allocate up to 10,000 Bitcoin from its national cryptocurrency reserves to fund the GMC project.
This new arrangement marks the subsequent phase of that original initiative. Neither organization, however, has revealed specifics regarding the precise quantity of Bitcoin being placed under 3iQ's management, the custodial framework being employed, or whether the mandate allows for lending activities, derivative instruments, and other strategies designed to generate yield.
Pascal St-Jean, who serves as CEO of 3iQ, stated that his organization would apply institutional-grade discipline to the mandate and contribute to deploying Bhutan's capital in a manner that is "responsibly, transparently and for the long term."
Jigdrel Singay, a board director at Gelephu, characterized 3iQ as among the city's founding institutional partners. Both organizations indicated that additional milestones and announcements would be forthcoming as Gelephu continues its efforts to position itself as a digital offshore financial hub with an emphasis on innovation, environmental sustainability, and institutional-quality asset management services.