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Bhutan’s Himalayan Kingdom is set to debut TER, a sovereign gold-backed digital token built on the Solana blockchain, on Dec. 17, 2025, marking a significant step in the country’s expanding digital asset strategy.
🚨 BHUTAN JUST LAUNCHED A GOLD-BACKED TOKEN ON SOLANA
They’re calling it TER, short for “Treasure” in Dzongkha.
• Backed 1:1 by physical gold
• Issued through DK Bank
• Built on $SOL for speed + transparency
• Another step in Bhutan’s national tokenization push… pic.twitter.com/nUdorg9aXg— Wise Advice (@wiseadvicesumit) December 11, 2025
TER, meaning “treasure” in Dzongkha (the official national language of Bhutan), will be issued under the supervision of the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA), Bhutan’s central bank, and distributed through DK Bank, the nation’s first licensed digital bank. Officials say the initiative aims to blend the stability of gold with the efficiency of blockchain-based settlement.
This development comes as BRICS countries push greater use of gold or local currencies in trade and financial cooperation, and explore new payment mechanisms, signaling a multipolar interest in digital settlement alternatives to existing global systems.
The launch of TER follows years of quiet blockchain adoption efforts by Bhutan’s government. The RMA previously conducted pilot programs for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) using Ripple’s private ledger technology and supported the establishment of Gelephu Mindfulness City, a special economic zone designed to attract blockchain, fintech, and green-technology investment.
The new gold-backed token reflects Bhutan’s strategy of pairing traditional reserves with digital infrastructure, allowing the country to modernize its financial systems while maintaining a high level of monetary trust.
Bhutan’s move comes as neighboring Asian nations experiment with their own versions of commodity- or reserve-backed digital assets. Regional peers such as India and Singapore have focused on tokenized government bonds and pilot stablecoins, while smaller economies like Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have explored gold-linked digital currencies.
By launching TER on Solana, Bhutan positions itself at the intersection of real-world asset tokenization and sovereign digital finance, leveraging Solana’s low-cost, high-throughput infrastructure to support both domestic and cross-border applications.
TER is unique in several respects:
Unlike many private gold-backed tokens, TER’s issuance and legal framework are anchored in sovereign authority, offering clarity that many digital asset products lack.
Bhutan’s move arrives amid broader shifts in how countries think about tokenized money and settlement systems. In the BRICS bloc, composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, leaders have debated alternatives to dominant global payment frameworks, including local-currency settlement systems and proposals for a shared instrument known as the “Unit.”
NEW: BRICS Group launches gold-backed UNIT payment system
40% gold and 60% BRICS currency basket, UNIT will allow 30+ countries to trade precious metals outside Western platforms
The U.S. dollar’s days as global reserve currency are numbered pic.twitter.com/w6UyZpocsg
— Mr. Bitcoin Whale (@MrBitcoinWhalee) December 6, 2025
The BRICS Unit concept has recently gained traction as a gold-backed digital trade currency, built on a basket of member currencies and gold reserves, designed to facilitate trade settlement and reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.
While still at a pilot stage, the Unit reflects similar motivations to Bhutan’s project: leveraging blockchain and hard-asset backing to rethink cross-border finance and diversify reserve-asset exposure.
Overall Bhutan’s project underscores a clear message from Thimphu: blockchain adoption can coexist with monetary sovereignty and gold remains at the heart of that equation.
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