Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City Partners with 3iQ Corp. for Digital Asset Hub

The remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is making waves in the crypto space by partnering with Canadian digital asset manager 3iQ Corp. to build a digital asset hub in its Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) Special Administrative Region.

GMC aims to become a testbed for blockchain innovation, and the partnership with 3iQ signals that it intends to build infrastructure capable of attracting serious capital. The region plans to tokenize real-world assets, construct on-chain settlement rails, and create a compliant trading environment under a sovereign framework.

This move follows in the footsteps of other jurisdictions like the United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, and offshore financial centers, which have designated zones with bespoke rules to attract liquidity. Bhutan's entry into the space is notable as it carries the full backing of a nation-state that already has experience with crypto via Bitcoin mining operations powered by hydroelectric surplus.