Bhutan Launches Gold-Backed Digital Currency TER on Solana Blockchain

The Kingdom of Bhutan has officially launched TER, a new digital currency fully collateralized by physical gold and operating on the Solana blockchain infrastructure. This financial development is being managed by the Gelephu Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region, representing Bhutan's entry into the digital asset sector. This deployment positions the nation among the first sovereign entities to issue a blockchain-native instrument directly representing physically secured gold reserves.

The introduction of TER, a term derived from Dzongkha meaning "treasure," aligns with Bhutan's national digital transformation strategy, which already includes regulated Bitcoin mining and a pilot program for a Ripple-powered Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Every TER token is established with a 100% backing ratio, meaning it is fully redeemable for ethically sourced physical bullion stored securely in designated vaults. During this initial issuance phase, DK Bank, Bhutan's first licensed digital bank, is serving as the exclusive custodian and distributor for the asset.

The underlying tokenization technology and the necessary reserve certification processes are managed by Matrixdock, which utilizes the efficiency of the Solana network. The selection of Solana was strategic, intended to leverage its documented features of rapid transaction finality and low operational costs to gain a competitive position in the tokenized real-world asset market. This launch is a key component of Bhutan's broader digital agenda, which focuses on integrating advanced financial technology with national economic policy, with the tokenization of sovereign assets cited as an immediate focus for market penetration.

The Gelephu Mindfulness City, established as a special economic zone, is intended to function as a center for such advanced technological and financial experiments, providing a regulatory framework for these innovations. The utilization of a public, permissionless blockchain like Solana for a state-adjacent asset contrasts with many national CBDC projects that favor permissioned ledgers, suggesting a commitment to transparency for this specific asset class. The entire framework, emphasizing secure processes from ethical bullion sourcing to token issuance, aims to establish a high-trust model within the emerging sector of tokenized real-world assets.