Bitget Partners With Bhutan’s Gelephu City to Pursue Crypto License
Gelephu Mindfulness City, unveiled by Bhutan in December 2023, is a planned special administrative region with an estimated development cost of about $100 billion. The project seeks to attract financial and technology businesses through a distinct regulatory framework, sustainability-focused policies and access to hydropower. Digital assets and Web3 are central to its strategy for creating jobs, drawing foreign investment and diversifying the Himalayan kingdom’s economy.
A report published on Aug. 8, 2026, said Bitget signed a cooperation agreement with the Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority to explore establishing a compliant local entity and applying for a virtual-asset financial-services license. The parties plan to combine Bitget’s digital-asset expertise with Bhutan’s clean-energy resources and GMC’s regulatory framework to develop the local Web3 ecosystem. No transaction value, licensing timetable or target date for commencing operations was disclosed.
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The history behind this eventBitget Seeks Bhutan License for Regulated Crypto Presence
Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) is a self-governing economic zone in the country’s south, designed to attract digital-finance and technology businesses under its own regulatory framework. Bhutan pledged in December 2025 to commit as much as 10,000 Bitcoin to GMC’s long-term development, tying the project to one of the world’s most ambitious sovereign crypto strategies. A licensed global exchange would test whether that state-backed plan can translate into regulated commercial activity and local jobs.
Bitget said on Aug. 7, 2026, that it signed an agreement with the Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority to establish a regulated local presence and seek a financial-services license. The move remains subject to regulatory approval and does not yet authorize the exchange to begin licensed operations in GMC. Bitget and the authority said the initiative would support a compliant digital-asset ecosystem, but they disclosed no investment amount, application deadline or launch date for the planned Bhutan operation.
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