the happiness hedge
bhutan just pledged $1 billion in bitcoin to build a mindfulness city.
let that sink in for a second. the country that invented "gross national happiness" as an alternative to gdp.... the tiny himalayan kingdom that prioritizes wellbeing over wealth accumulation.... that country is now one of the largest sovereign bitcoin holders on earth. they hold over 11,000 btc. theyve been quietly mining since 2019 using surplus hydroelectric power from himalayan rivers. and now theyre committing 10,000 of those coins to fund gelephu mindfulness city, a new economic hub designed around sustainability, innovation, and yes.... mindfulness.
and people are confused. how does meditation mesh with money? how does a buddhist kingdom justify internet money? isnt bitcoin the opposite of spiritual values? isnt it all about greed and speculation and number go up?
but thats the wrong frame entirely.
bhutan isnt choosing between values and value. theyre refusing the choice. they looked at the false binary.... spirituality OR wealth, tradition OR innovation, mindfulness OR money.... and walked straight through it. king jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck announced the pledge during his national day address. he framed it as "a commitment to our people, our youth, and our nation." he said every bhutanese citizen should be "a custodian, stakeholder, and beneficiary" of the project. thats not the language of speculation. thats the language of stewardship.
heres what makes this even more interesting. bhutan isnt selling their bitcoin to fund the city. theyre using collateralized lending, yield strategies, and long-term holding to finance infrastructure while maintaining exposure to bitcoins upside. they understand somthing most treasuries dont.... you dont have to choose between preserving capital and deploying it. you can do both if you think in decades instead of quarters.
most of us are still stuck on one side of the false binary. building beautiful things but broke. or making money but miserable. chasing meaning and ignoring money. or chasing money and losing meaning. we treat these as tradeoffs when theyre actually just failures of imagination.
bhutan is betting you can do both. that storing value doesnt corrupt values. that long-term thinking works in treasury strategy and temple design. that a nation can mine bitcoin with clean energy, hold it for generational wealth, and use it to build a city centered on human flourishing. the same philosophy that gave us gross national happiness is now giving us one of the boldest sovereign bitcoin plays on the planet.
while everyone argues which side is right.... spirituality or capitalism, tradition or technology, east or west.... some people just build the bridge.
what false binary are you still stuck in?
