Bitdeer’s new 100 MW facility is the first phase of the company's Bhutan project for the small, mountainous nation.

The Kingdom of Bhutan, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, recently became home to a massive new 100 MW crypto mining data center. And yet few know about it. Indeed, many of us know little about this mysterious Himalayan Kingdom.
Bhutan might not seem like an ideal place for a crypto mining data center. It has a lot of mountainous terrain, when data centers normally lay on flatter ground. For why Bhutan is now home for a massive crypto mining center, we must go back to 2005.
That year, the government launched several long-term initiatives to digitize communities and public institutions. Once it became more connected to the outside world, the country (population: 777,000) began leaning more into its natural features, with the aim of attracting new businesses such as cryptocurrency mining.
It’s one of only a few nations considered to be carbon-negative, meaning its atmosphere absorbs more carbon dioxide than it produces (lush, green forests cover 70% of its territory). Hydroelectric power is also plentiful. Singapore-based mining company, Bitdeer (BTDR), saw the potential: in May 2023, the company announced a partnership with Druk Holding & Investments (DHI), the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, to launch a $500 million closed-end fund. The fund will be used to build mining facilities powered entirely by carbon-free hydropower. The first phase of the project- Gedu data center, with a total aggregate electrical capacity of 100 MW, has been operational since August 2023