Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm quietly invests millions in crypto: Report

The Kingdom of Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm, estimated to manage around $2.9 billion in assets, has placed millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies and was a customer of bankrupt crypto firms BlockFi and Celsius.

Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), a commercial arm of the royal government of Bhutan, has grown a crypto portfolio without disclosing it to the public, according to a report released by Forbes. The funds were brought to light following the crypto contagion in 2022 when companies like Celsius and BlockFi filed for bankruptcy.

User Deposit and Withdrawal – 90 Day – Source: Celsius SoFA

Shout out to those who were able to Chapter 7 liquidate themselves at 100 cents on the dollar pic.twitter.com/nTdIVFrBXq

— Celsius Loans (@CelsiusLoans) February 20, 2023

According to the report, a Celsius filing showed that DHI withdrew over $65 million and deposited almost $18 million in crypto. BlockFi lawyers filed a complaint against DHI to reclaim outstanding assets, alleging that the fund defaulted on its $30 million loan in March. 

BlockFi claimed that DHI refused to repay the loan in full after liquidating the 1,888 Bitcoin (BTC) collateral, worth $76.5 million at the time. On the other hand, DHI CEO Ujjwal Deep Dahal said in a Forbes statement that the issue is confidential and highlighted that the “matter with BlockFi has been settled.“

Cointelegraph attempted to reach out to DHI for comments but did not get a response.

Related: Celsius reportedly prepping litigation against creditor for leaking internal info

Celsius and BlockFi were two of the most prominent bankruptcy filings within the crypto space in 2022. On July 14, crypto lending platform Celsius filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, also known as a bankruptcy filing. Since then, the embattled crypto lender has been dealing with bankruptcy proceedings and is working on a restructuring plan. On Nov. 28, BlockFi also filed for bankruptcy after being affected by the infamous collapse of the FTX exchange.

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