The Donald Trump administration is considering putting stringent travel restrictions on several countries, with citizens from up to 11 countries facing a total ban on entering the U.S.
What happened: The draft list of recommendations included Bhutan in the “red” list, according to a New York Times report.
The country’s inclusion sparked outcry, with Bhutanese journalist Tenzinga Lamsang claiming, “The Trump Administration has pulled off a near impossible feat of Bhutanese getting outraged & hurt with the USA.”
Interestingly, the small Himalayan nation is one of the world’s biggest Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) hoarders, with a stash worth nearly $756 million, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham. This makes it a larger Bitcoin owner than El Salvador.
Unlike other nations, Bhutan’s holdings haven’t come from law enforcement seizures but from indigenously developed mining capability, backed by its abundant hydropower resources.
Bhutan’s moves have attracted the attention of the who’s who of the Bitcoin community, including El Salvador Bitcoin advisor Max Keiser and Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor.
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Put simply, the Asian nation has been stockpiling the apex cryptocurrency long before Trump announced a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded by forfeited BTCs.
If the list is implemented by a presidential proclamation, it’d mean marginalizing a Bitcoin-friendly country.
Note that the list is just a proposal developed by the State Department, and changes could happen following reviews by other departments and intelligence agencies.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $84,207.04, up 1.32% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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