By Editorial Staff 
- Bhutan is the first country to host a national ID system entirely on Ethereum.
- The migration from Polygon to Ethereum is set for completion by early 2026.
- The project aims to give 800,000 citizens secure, verifiable access to government services.
- Ethereum Foundation leaders and Bhutanese officials, including the prime minister and crown prince, attended the launch.
The Kingdom of Bhutan has officially migrated its national digital identity system to the Ethereum blockchain, marking a major milestone in global digital governance and blockchain adoption.
The South Asian nation of Bhutan has begun transferring its self-sovereign national identity system from Polygon to the Ethereum network, according to Ethereum Foundation President Aya Miyaguchi. The full migration, she said, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026.
“This milestone marks not only a national achievement but a global step toward a more open and secure digital future,” Miyaguchi said on X (formerly Twitter) after attending the launch ceremony in Thimphu alongside Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, and Crown Prince Jigme Namgyel Wangchuk.
The new system will allow nearly 800,000 Bhutanese citizens to verify their identities and securely access government services through Ethereum’s decentralized framework, making the Himalayan kingdom the first to anchor an entire national identity registry on the blockchain.
Bhutan’s National Digital Identity (NDI) and GovTech teams led the transition, supported by contributors from the country’s crypto community. The initiative builds on Bhutan’s previous systems, which ran on Polygon from August 2024 and Hyperledger Indy before that.
Blockchain-based ID systems have long been hailed for their potential to enhance privacy and transparency while reducing fraud, especially when paired with technologies like zero-knowledge proofs.
Beyond digital identity, Bhutan has quietly emerged as one of the world’s most crypto-forward nations. The country, known for measuring progress by “Gross National Happiness,” is also the fifth-largest state holder of Bitcoin.
Data from BitBo’s Bitcoin Treasuries shows Bhutan holds 11,286 BTC—worth about $1.31 billion—mined largely using renewable hydropower from its Himalayan dams.
The nation’s growing interest in blockchain innovation was further highlighted by recent talks with former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in late September, though details of their discussions remain undisclosed.
Opeyemi Quadri 
Dorcas Opeyemi