Bhutan opens to tourists – But with a $10K stake into the Solana network

For many years, Bhutan was known as one of the hardest countries to visit. Travel was tightly controlled, visitors had to book through official guides, and daily fees could go above $250.

This was done deliberately to limit tourism. But in early 2026, Bhutan changed its approach and opened its doors in a very different way, using blockchain technology.

The country has launched its first Digital Nomad Visa, but with a unique rule. Anyone applying must deposit $10,000 into TER, a gold-backed digital token built on the Solana [SOL] network.

Each TER token represents 0.01 grams of physical gold stored securely in vaults and can be refunded when the tourist leaves the country.

As expected, Solana too celebrated this win and noted, 

Solana’s market dynamics worry investors

Bhutan’s $10,000 entry requirement for digital residency comes at a difficult time for the Solana ecosystem.

At press time, SOL was trading near $82.57 after a small daily recovery, but it is still down about 32% over the past month.

This shows that the market is still under pressure, even if short-term panic has eased.

Additionally, Glassnode data suggested that in early February, investors sold at huge losses, with realized losses reaching $1.45 billion.

That number has now fallen to about $251.9 million, which means most of the forced selling is over. However, it also suggests that many traders are tired and hesitant, not excited about buying again.

Moving forward, data from Santiment shows that Solana is currently facing three problems at once. First, Open Interest is falling, which means leveraged traders are closing positions and no longer expecting quick gains.

Secondly, active addresses are dropping, showing that fewer users are using the network compared to the busy days of memecoins and NFTs in 2025.

Lastly, development activity is also slowing, which raises concerns about long-term innovation and upgrades. Together, these trends point to a cooling network, not growing.

This makes Bhutan’s move more complex than it first appears. By asking digital nomads to lock $10,000 into a Solana-based, gold-backed token, the country is collecting capital at a time when the network is relatively weak.

What’s more?

For Bhutan, this is smart; it helps support its digital economy at a lower cost, but for users, however, it is a risky decision.

This followed Bhutan’s Bitcoin [BTC] treasury showing unusual activity. This week, blockchain tracker Arkham flagged large BTC transfers, some of which later moved as USDT to exchanges like Binance and Kraken.

While this is only a small part of Bhutan’s holdings, the timing is important.

In the past, the country sold Bitcoin carefully, but doing so now, when Solana is cooling and Bitcoin is under pressure, suggests a more defensive approach. 

Final Summary

• Linking visas to a $10,000 gold-backed token shows strong confidence in digital assets, even as crypto markets remain fragile.
• Falling Open Interest and active addresses indicate that traders and users are stepping back, limiting near-term growth.