Canada’s 3iQ Corp will help develop a digital offshore financial hub in Bhutan through a strategic partnership with Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) that will also see the Toronto-based digital asset investment firm manage a bitcoin-backed mandate from the South Asian kingdom.
Last December, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced the allocation of as much as 10,000 bitcoins from national holdings to support the development of GMC in southern Bhutan into an economic hub centred on mindfulness, sustainability and innovation. That would amount to around US$640 million at bitcoin’s current value of around $64,000 each.
“This partnership represents the next step in achieving [the ] objective through the strategic deployment of a portion of those reserves,” 3iQ and GMC say in a joint statement on July 30.
According to GMC, 3iQ was chosen to partner in the project because of the firm’s reputation for “institutional robustness” and track record in digital asset management.
Pascal St-Jean, director and chief executive officer of 3iQ, says the firm aims to help realise GMC’s vision to create a next-generation economic hub.
“To be entrusted by GMC in this capacity is a significant responsibility, and one we take
seriously…From the very inception we were aligned with GMC’s vision to create a next-generation economic hub that attracts global talent while being committed to Bhutan’s cultural values and environmental principles,” says St-Jean, who has helped drive 3iQ from a Canadian fund manager into a global platform.
Jigdrel Singay, a board director of GMC, describes the partnership as an “important first step in building GMC’s next-generation institutional digital asset management hub”.
“We are delighted to welcome 3iQ as one of our founding institutional partners, helping to lay the foundations for a world-class fund ecosystem in GMC,” he says. “Beyond their institutional expertise and global track record in digital asset management, what stood out to us was their genuine commitment to investing in people, transferring knowledge and building local capabilities.”
