In Bhutan, bitcoin reserves are already common currency - FT中文網
登錄×
電子郵件/用戶名
密碼
記住我
請輸入郵箱和密碼進行綁定操作:
請輸入手機號碼,透過簡訊驗證(目前僅支援中國大陸地區的手機號):
請您閱讀我們的用戶註冊協議私隱權保護政策,點擊下方按鈕即視爲您接受。
Web3與加密金融

In Bhutan, bitcoin reserves are already common currency

Sovereign bitcoin reserves are a relatively small phenomenon but are probably here to stay

Donald Trump may have called for a strategic bitcoin reserve — but while the US president grabs headlines, other sovereigns are quietly amassing their own kitties. Bhutan, a tiny kingdom so esoteric it measures happiness the way more humdrum counties measure economic output, holds the fifth biggest national bitcoin stash.

Countries come by their tokens in different ways. Crime kick-started Washington’s booty. US federal law enforcement seized bitcoin when taking down the Silk Road online marketplace — assets in this case being the bitcoin buyers used to purchase drugs, arms and other contraband on the dark web. Forfeits from crime also explain the UK’s 61,000-odd bitcoin, as of the end of December.

Bhutan’s haul derives from a more wholesome source. The Himalayan kingdom mines its own coins, harnessing rivers to power the computers. There is a nice circularity to this. Exporting hydropower would be expensive and inevitably require new infrastructure, not all of which would necessarily be aesthetically pleasing. So instead Bhutan monetises the energy — turning gigawatts into money — by mining bitcoin at home. That’s helpful for a country with few wealth-generating levers at its disposal; it imports nearly everything and manufacturing is a non-starter.

Britain’s holding is around five times the size of Bhutan’s, but much smaller relative to the economy. Even at bitcoin’s peak it wouldn’t cover a fortnight’s funding for the health service.

Sovereigns talk up the inflationary hedge aspect of this “digital gold”. Like gold, its scarcity value theoretically protects it from inflationary pressures — although in practice bitcoin has proved too volatile to make the case.

But there are obvious risks to states holding chunks of a highly volatile asset backed by nothing more than lines of code. Current kitty sizes may not be enough to raise hackles, but recent months have highlighted yet again just how wild this ride can be. The Trump bump pushed bitcoin past $105,000 in January but, like other assets, it has since lost ground and now sits at just over $83,000.

Buyers in the wake of the coin’s Trump bump include Saudi Arabia, traders reckon. El Salvador, undeterred by the strings attached to a pending IMF bailout, continued to buy bitcoin last month.

China may, or may not, have a kitty not far short of Washington’s. To a country keen to diversify away from the dollar and comfortable stockpiling everything from pork to critical minerals, a strategic bitcoin reserve might not seem outlandish. True, the token is banned in the People’s Republic, but exceptions can always be made.

Sovereign bitcoin reserves are a relatively small phenomenon but they are probably here to stay. One reason is that old-school currency reserves are also becoming riskier. See, for instance, speculation that the US might pursue a so-called Mar-a-Lago accord to weaken the dollar. Should a new monetary system come about, that might just create a space for an alternative like bitcoin.

louise.lucas@ft.com

虛擬貨幣相關活動存在較大法律風險。請根據監管規範,注意甄別和遠離非法金融活動,謹防個人財產和權益受損。
版權聲明:本文版權歸FT中文網所有,未經允許任何單位或個人不得轉載,複製或以任何其他方式使用本文全部或部分,侵權必究。

關稅不確定性增加美聯準設定利率的難度

經濟學家警告稱,在市場波動性加劇之際,美聯準過於依賴後顧性數據存在風險。

經濟成長乏力,法國就業市場來到「臨界點」

官方數據和商業調查顯示,這個歐元區第二大經濟體的勞動力市場正在惡化,破壞了法國總統馬克宏多年來推動該國實現充分就業的努力。

在線課程挑戰傳統MBA提供商

學生不再侷限於地域或僵化的結構,他們需要更便宜、更靈活的選擇。

一週展望:美英日利率變動前景

「房間裏的大象」是美國總統川普的關稅政策和美國破壞西方安全聯盟所帶來的不確定性。

川普促使中立的瑞士尋求更緊密的防務關係

瑞士新任國防部長呼籲加強與北約和歐盟鄰國的聯繫。
17小時前

德意志交易所CEO:歐洲需要「大變革」來提振投資

斯特凡•萊特納在接受FT採訪時表示,歐盟應利用投資者隨著關稅擔憂加劇從美國轉向歐洲市場的機會。
設置字型大小×
最小
較小
默認
較大
最大
分享×