Bhutan Government Cuts Bitcoin Holdings as Standard Chartered Predicts BTC Price Crash To $50k

The Bhutan Government is cutting its Bitcoin holdings again as the BTC price weakness continues. Today, the Royal Government of Bhutan reduced its Bitcoin stash to 5,600 BTC, valued near $385 million. The move comes as market sentiment worsens, with CoinMarketCap’s Fear & Greed Index falling to 8, even as Bitcoin showed a slight recovery.

Bhutan Government Reduces Bitcoin Holdings 

Arkham Intelligence data shows the Bhutan Government transferred 100 BTC, worth about $6.77 million, to QCP. Notably, this transfer follows an increase in on-chain activity linked to Bhutan wallets, suggesting that they have offloaded these coins. 

The Royal Government of Bhutan now holds 5,600 BTC, down from a peak of 13,295 BTC in October 2025. This means Bhutan has reduced its Bitcoin holdings by nearly 60% within just four months.

However, some transfers have raised speculation without clear confirmation of direct selling. As Coingape reported a few days ago, there were several Bitcoin transfers from the Bhutan government leading to fresh market scrutiny, although on-chain records showed transfers to unknown wallets instead of confirmed exchange addresses.

Even so, the steady reduction has placed Bhutan’s Bitcoin activity back into focus as the BTC price remains under pressure. That pressure has also appeared across broader market sentiment indicators.

Standard Chartered Predicts BTC Price Drop to $50,000

Standard Chartered has now cut its Bitcoin price forecast for the second time in under three months. The bank warned that Bitcoin could fall toward $50,000 before recovering later. Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital assets research, wrote that the bank expects further capitulation over the coming months. 

This comes as Glassnode flagged a structural weakness in Bitcoin, with the possibility that the BTC price could crash to the realized price of $55,000. Analyst Benjamin Cowen warned that the leading crypto could drop below the realized price and crash to as low as $40,000.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered now expects Bitcoin to end 2026 at $100,000, down from its prior $150,000 estimate. In December, Standard Chartered had already reduced its 2026 target from $300,000. Kendrick linked the latest downgrade to ETF outflows and weaker macro conditions.

Notably, Kendrick said Bitcoin ETF holdings have dropped by nearly 100,000 tokens since the Oct. 10 peak. He also noted the average ETF buyer now holds losses, with an entry price near $90,000.

Bloomberg data also showed investors pulled nearly $8 billion from U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs since the Oct. 10 selloff. Standard Chartered also cut its Ether forecast, lowering its end-2026 target to $4,000 from $7,500. They predicted Ether may drop toward about $1,400 before any sustained recovery.