Bitget has signed a cooperation agreement with Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority (GMCA) as it seeks to establish a local presence and apply for a Financial Services Licence under the city’s virtual asset regulations.
The agreement sets out plans for Bitget to create a legal entity in Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), prepare a licence application under the framework administered by the Gelephu Financial Services Office (GFSO), and work with GMCA on operational, regulatory and ecosystem-development initiatives.
Bitget said the arrangement remains subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.
The cryptocurrency exchange intends to open offices in GMC gradually and recruit staff locally as part of a long-term commitment to Bhutan. It said the proposed operation would support talent development, knowledge transfer and the building of local expertise alongside its exchange activities.
Gracy Chen, chief executive officer of Bitget, said Bhutan offered a combination of long-term planning, renewable energy resources and a regulatory environment supportive of digital assets. She added that Bitget aimed to bring exchange infrastructure and operational experience while helping develop local talent as the ecosystem grew.
The agreement goes beyond the pursuit of a licence, with both sides also committing to cooperation on regulatory procedures and projects connected to GMC’s financial services framework.
Gelephu Mindfulness City, in southern Bhutan, is being developed as a Special Administrative Region with ambitions to become an international centre for finance and innovation.
Its virtual asset framework is based on the Financial Services Act 2025 and associated rulebooks. Companies carrying out regulated financial services or virtual asset activities in or from GMC must secure a Financial Services Licence from the GFSO before beginning operations.
Jigdrel Singay, a board director of Gelephu Mindfulness City, said the city wanted to build a digital asset sector founded on regulation, institutional standards and sustainable economic value. He said international partners such as Bitget could provide expertise while supporting local capabilities and strengthening the wider financial ecosystem.
The announcement also referenced Bhutan’s Bitcoin Development Pledge, unveiled in December 2025. That initiative outlined the country’s approach to incorporating digital assets into economic development while encouraging institutional participation and regulatory oversight.
Bhutan has already attracted interest from the digital asset industry through its use of surplus hydropower for environmentally powered Bitcoin mining. The strategy forms part of wider efforts to diversify the economy, create jobs and keep young professionals in the country.
The agreement comes after several regulatory developments involving Bitget in other markets.
Earlier this month, Bitget said it would withdraw services for residents of Japan rather than seek local authorisation. New account registrations have been suspended, with restrictions on existing accounts due to start on 1 November. The exchange also said open positions remaining on 31 December would be closed automatically.
The decision followed repeated warnings from Japan’s Financial Services Agency in 2023 and 2024 over alleged operation without registration. In June 2025, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau warned BTG Technology Holdings Limited, identifying it as a company operating under the Bitget name and alleging that it solicited certain online derivatives transactions without registration.
In markets where it plans to retain a local presence, Bitget has continued to seek registrations and approvals.
In July, the company completed registration on New Zealand’s Financial Service Providers Register in five categories: foreign exchange, custody of client assets, domestic and international money transfers, portfolio management, and execution of financial products. It also joined New Zealand’s Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman dispute-resolution scheme.
However, New Zealand’s Companies Office has said that FSPR registration is not government approval and does not, by itself, amount to active regulatory supervision. Depending on the services offered, further authorisation from the Financial Markets Authority or the Reserve Bank of New Zealand may be needed.
Bitget has adopted a market-by-market regulatory strategy, meaning its services differ between jurisdictions.
In July, it confirmed that Singapore remained a restricted jurisdiction because it is not licensed, approved, registered or supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The company said it did not offer services to, or target, residents there.
Bitget is also preparing to return to the United States. As previously reported by crypto.news, it plans to establish an independent US entity before launching services and will initially seek money-transmitter, broker-dealer and derivatives approvals. Chen said the US expansion would go ahead regardless of whether Congress passed the CLARITY Act.
Alongside its regulatory activity, Bitget has continued developing tokenised investment products. Chen previously said tokenised traditional assets represented between 20% and 30% of the exchange’s spot trading volume in the previous quarter, while 52% of Bitget users held both cryptocurrencies and stocks.
