The Himalayan kingdom introduced TER, a Solana-based token backed by physical gold and issued through Gelephu Mindfulness City.
Dec 11, 2025, 2:00 a.m.
What to know:
- Bhutan introduced TER, a sovereign-supported gold-backed token issued via Gelephu Mindfulness City and custodied by DK Bank, offering a blockchain-based representation of physical gold.
- The token runs on Solana, giving international investors digital portability and on-chain transparency while mimicking the experience of traditional gold purchases.
- TER follows Kyrgyzstan’s USDKG launch, highlighting a growing trend of smaller nations issuing asset-backed digital currencies tied to audited reserves as part of broader economic and technological strategies.
Bhutan is extending its national blockchain strategy with a gold-backed digital token issued by Gelephu Mindfulness City and supported by the Kingdom’s sovereign framework.
The TER token is designed to act as a new bridge between traditional value stores and blockchain-based finance, according to an emailed announcement on Thursday.
Tokens are being issued on Solana, with distribution and custody handled by DK Bank, Bhutan’s first licensed digital bank. In the first phase, investors can acquire TER directly through DK Bank, combining the familiarity of traditional asset purchases with the transparency of on-chain ownership.
TER is designed to offer international investors an accessible, tokenized version of gold but with the benefits of digital custody and global transferability, the release said.
Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City is a special administrative region designed to attract global investment, using digital assets for its financial reserves and innovation ecosystem, forming a key part of Bhutan's blockchain strategy to diversify its economy and create a digitally-focused future.
Bhutan’s announcement comes just days after Kyrgyzstan unveiled USDKG, a gold-backed stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, with an initial issuance of $50 million — representing one of Central Asia’s first state-supervised digital-asset initiatives.
TER and USDKG demonstrate a pattern of small nations using blockchain to fuse traditional assets like gold with regulated digital finance — offering a new template for digital-asset development rooted in tangible, audited reserves.
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