The question is no longer if sovereign nations or sovereign wealth funds should be engaged with the digital asset ecosystem, but rather how they should be engaged and how they can maximise their positions through both an investment and a strategic lens. Joining me today is Matteo Dante Perruccio, Chief Strategy Officer at 3iQ, to discuss the evolving role of sovereigns in the crypto space and how the Bhutan playbook can be replicated here in the Middle East. Matteo, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
3iQ recently secured a mandate to manage a dedicated portion of Bhutan's GMC's Bitcoin treasury. Can you walk us through what managing a sovereign Bitcoin mandate actually looks like?
This is a really interesting example of how a country has been visionary in thinking about how Bitcoin and digital assets can help develop and change the trajectory of their nation. Bhutan used its resources to mine Bitcoin and accumulate a treasury. To be clear, GMC — Gelephu Mindfulness City — is a major project to create a digital offshore hub in Bhutan, building a new airport and a whole digital ecosystem. The agreement we signed with GMC is really more than just a sovereign asset allocation. It is a genuine partnership to help bring to life the vision Bhutan is trying to implement. Our primary obligation is to protect those assets and help accumulate more Bitcoin for deployment into the project and into the development of GMC. We are taking a very secure and conservative approach to managing these assets and ensuring they can multiply and grow over time so they can be deployed to implement the strategy.
What was it that GMC saw in 3iQ that made you the chosen partner?
It was a competitive process, and I can only infer from what they have told us. I think they were looking for a like-minded partner — one that understood not just the financial obligations, but more importantly understood the vision and what they were trying to achieve, and felt a sincere commitment to that vision. The partnership includes our commitment to invest in GMC — not just financially but in resources. Others thought about it in the traditional sense of hiring a couple of local resources. We looked at it more globally and said: Bhutan has a young population it wants to develop and repatriate. Some Bhutanese young people have emigrated, and they want to attract those people back. We want to be part of that journey — helping develop the talent pool, creating cross-fertilisation of best practices, and helping them get exposure to what is happening globally in the digital marketplace.
Gulf sovereign wealth funds have been adding Bitcoin exposure, while Singapore's GIC and Temasek have stayed cautious. What explains that divergence?
There is a confluence of factors contributing to this. The UAE made a deliberate decision years ago to develop the digital economy — and that started, as it does in almost every market, with a focus on the infrastructure layer, the picks and shovels that would help develop the Web3 economy. But then there was an innovative change: VARA's regulatory vision, which was so far ahead of the curve. That created an understanding of digital assets as financial instruments — not just infrastructure plays — and I think the natural evolution of MENA brought sovereign wealth funds faster to that conclusion. I do believe APAC will get there. But they are notoriously cautious, partly because of proximity to China and China's policies vis-à-vis Bitcoin, and the concentration of Chinese wealth in the region. That makes the decision-making process more complex.
Among Gulf sovereigns there are competing playbooks — direct reserve accumulation versus taking stakes in crypto infrastructure like MGX's $2 billion stake in Binance. Which approach will dominate over the next five years?
They are distinctly different approaches and carry very different risks. Infrastructure investment is a consolidation play in an industry that has enormous diversification among service providers. But picking winners is extremely difficult. If you rewind ten years, many of the players we thought were going to be dominant are no longer in existence. And some we had never even heard of are now dominant. Direct accumulation is a completely different risk profile. For an asset manager like 3iQ, that diversification among providers is actually where the alpha opportunities in this industry come from. Our edge is in navigating that complexity.
Thank you so much, Matteo. Congratulations once again on the landmark deal with Bhutan's GMC.
Thank you very much for having me.
