Bitget seeks licence in Bhutan’s Gelephu hub as sovereign crypto push widens
Exchange signs cooperation deal to establish a legal entity and pursue a Financial Services Licence in Bhutan's new virtual asset zone.
Bitget has signed a cooperation agreement with the Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority (GMCA), setting out a path for the exchange to establish a legal entity in Bhutan’s purpose-built financial zone and apply for a licence to operate there. The arrangement, disclosed by both parties this week, is the latest sign that Bhutan intends to build formal regulatory infrastructure around digital assets rather than simply hosting hydropower-fuelled mining.
Under the agreement, Bitget will work toward setting up a local entity in Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) and preparing an application for a Financial Services Licence issued by the Gelephu Financial Services Office (GFSO), the regulator established under GMC’s Financial Services Act 2025. The exchange described the deal as a framework for cooperation on regulatory, operational and ecosystem-building matters, rather than a licence in itself — both companies stressed that the arrangement remains subject to the necessary approvals.
A licensing gateway, not an operating permit
Gelephu Mindfulness City is a Special Administrative Region in southern Bhutan being developed as an international financial and innovation hub, with ambitions that extend well beyond crypto. Any firm carrying out regulated financial services or virtual asset activity in or from GMC must first secure a Financial Services Licence from the GFSO, giving the territory a gatekeeping regime that mirrors the licensing-first approach increasingly favoured by jurisdictions courting institutional digital asset business.
Bitget’s plans go beyond paperwork. The exchange said it intends to open offices in GMC over time and hire locally, framing the move as support for talent development, knowledge transfer and long-term capability building alongside its exchange operations — language that echoes the “substance” requirements regulators elsewhere have begun demanding of licensed crypto firms rather than accepting a purely nominal presence.
Bhutan’s wider digital asset strategy
The agreement builds on Bhutan’s Bitcoin Development Pledge, announced in December 2025, which set out the kingdom’s strategy for integrating digital assets into its economic development while promoting institutional participation and regulatory oversight. Bhutan has already attracted attention in the sector for using surplus hydropower to support what it has presented as environmentally sustainable Bitcoin mining, part of a broader push to generate revenue, create employment and retain young talent.
Jigdrel Singay, board director of Gelephu Mindfulness City, said the city’s objective is to build a digital asset ecosystem “founded on robust regulation, institutional standards and long-term economic value,” adding that partners such as Bitget bring global expertise while helping to strengthen local capabilities and the wider financial ecosystem.
Gracy Chen, chief executive of Bitget, said Bhutan combines “long-term thinking, clean-energy advantage and regulatory clarity,” and that the exchange looks forward to contributing exchange experience, infrastructure knowledge and local talent development as the ecosystem grows.
Why it matters for exchanges seeking legitimacy
For Bitget, the Bhutan agreement extends a strategy of pursuing local regulatory approvals in selected markets rather than relying on offshore licensing alone, a posture that has become increasingly important for exchanges seeking institutional and banking counterparties. A formally licensed presence in a jurisdiction with a codified financial services statute offers a different regulatory footing than the looser registration regimes many exchanges have used in the past.
For Bhutan and GMC, the deal is a test of whether a small sovereign state can position itself as a credible node in the institutional digital asset infrastructure now taking shape globally, alongside jurisdictions such as the UAE and Singapore. Whether the licence is ultimately granted, and on what terms, will determine how far that ambition translates into substance.
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