Bhutan’s GMC Fast-Tracks Licenses to Lure Crypto Firms

Bhutan is developing Gelephu Mindfulness City, or GMC, as a special administrative region with its own commercial framework, seeking to turn the Himalayan kingdom into a South Asian hub for finance and digital assets. The project is backed partly by Bhutan’s sovereign crypto strategy: in late 2025, the government pledged as many as 10,000 Bitcoin to support the city’s long-term development. The initiative matters because regulated crypto firms often struggle to secure banking even after obtaining a license.

GMC said on May 12, 2026, that crypto and fintech companies regulated in Singapore, Hong Kong or the Abu Dhabi Global Market could use an accelerated process to incorporate, win local authorization and open a corporate account with official banking partner DK Bank. Overseas approval will streamline due diligence but will not serve as a regulatory passport; firms remain subject to GMC supervision and standard KYC and AML checks. The package includes a targeted 0% corporate tax for priority sectors and income-tax relief for qualifying foreign employees through 2030.