Bhutan Partners With Binance to Launch Crypto Payment System for Tourists 5j2h3h Technology News

Individuals planning a trip to Bhutan will now be able to make crypto payments for flight tickets, visa fees, hotel stays, and monument visits. 5x701i

Written by David Delima | Updated: 8 May 2025 19:46 IST

Bhutan Partners With Binance to Launch Crypto Payment System for Tourists

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Rodnae Productions 6yv41

Travelers to Bhutan can use crypto to pay for travels as well as street shopping

Highlights

Bhutan relies heavily on its tourism industry
The country wishes to be more enticing for visitors
Crypto payments will eliminate limitations on cash, card spendings

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Bhutan will soon allow the use of cryptocurrencies in the tourism sector. The country has announced the launch of a crypto payment system that lets s make crypto payments using Binance Pay. The aim is to incentivise tourists with cheaper alternatives to dodge currency exchange rates and limitations in the acceptability of international cards. Tourism generates a major chunk of revenue for Bhutan, and the country is now looking to make it more economical for visitors and travellers.

Experience Bhutan with the world's first national crypto tourism payment system!

Powered by Binance Pay and DK Bank, it offers seamless crypto payments for flights, hotels, local crafts, and much more. https://t.co/nnl38GloQA @binance pic.twitter.com/oRWJuemKwC
— Tourism Bhutan (@tourismbhutan) May 7, 2025

Individuals planning a trip to Bhutan will now be able to make crypto payments for flight tickets, visa fees, hotel stays, monument visits, tour guides, and street-shopping.

Along with Binance, DK Bank — Bhutan's first fully digital bank — is also part of the programme. The bank has already onboarded over 100 merchants in Bhutan who have agreed to accept payments in the form of crypto tokens.

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How to Use Crypto Payments While Travelling in Bhutan 64u2x

Travellers looking to use crypto for payments must first sign up on the Binance app. While booking tickets and hotels will be similar to regular online bookings, for retail purchases they will have to scan integrated QR codes provided by merchants.

DK Bank will act as a fully licensed local bank, managing crypto settlements on the ground. It will provide instant crypto-to-fiat conversions for over a hundred tokens including Bitcoin and the USDC among others for the tourists.

"This partnership creates new economic pathways for Bhutan's communities, especially small vendors and rural artisans who may never have had access to card terminals or payment infrastructure before," said an announcement post from Binance.

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Bhutan's Stance on Crypto 1x4n2u

In September 2024, Arkham Intelligence claimed that Bhutan was accumulating Bitcoin from the BTC mining operations run by Druk Holdings. This entity is the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

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Bhutan's Bitcoin holdings are now labeled on Arkham. These holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by the Kingdom of Bhutan's investment arm, Druk Holdings.

Arkham is the first to publicly identify these… pic.twitter.com/a8ScUNJJ9F
— Arkham (@arkham) September 16, 2024

In December last year, the country recognised crypto assets as a legitimate asset class within its Gelephu Mindfulness City, an economic hub located in southern Bhutan. No digital assets are currently recognised as a legal tender in Bhutan.

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Further reading: DK Bank

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at [email protected]. More