On-chain analytics platform Nansen is establishing an operational presence in Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC). The move marks another step in the small Himalayan kingdom’s push to build a sovereign digital asset ecosystem.
More broadly, the deal underscores Bhutan’s accelerating ambition to build a sovereign-backed digital asset jurisdiction from the ground up. For Nansen, it is a bet that the next wave of growth will come from exactly that kind of ecosystem.
Not a Relocation
Under the collaboration announced Tuesday, Nansen plans to incorporate a local entity in GMC and hire a Bhutan-based team. In addition, the company will develop on-the-ground analytics capabilities to support the special administrative region’s expanding digital asset infrastructure.
The move is not a relocation. Nansen CEO and co-founder Alex Svanevik told BeInCrypto the company is keeping its Singapore headquarters intact.
“We’re not leaving Singapore — this is an additional entity,” Svanevik said. “We chose GMC because of the vision behind it. Most crypto-friendly jurisdictions are optimizing for what exists today. Bhutan is building something fundamentally different — a values-driven economic zone with digital assets baked into the foundation, not bolted on as an afterthought.”
Why Bhutan
Established as a purpose-built special administrative region in southern Bhutan, GMC is designed around sustainable economic development. The region has attracted attention for its integration of digital assets at the sovereign level. That includes holding crypto in its strategic reserves and developing a regulatory framework purpose-built for the sector.
For Svanevik, that sovereign-level commitment is the key differentiator.
“GMC has crypto in its strategic reserves, a progressive regulatory framework purpose-built for digital assets, and genuine sovereign conviction behind it. That’s rare. We want to be pioneers in that ecosystem,” he said.
Expanding Beyond Analytics
The partnership reflects a broader shift in Nansen’s own strategy. The company in January rolled out AI-powered trade execution on Base and Solana and launched its AI agent on the web, moving beyond its roots as a wallet-labeling and analytics tool toward a full-stack on-chain trading platform.
“Nansen is becoming an AI-first platform for on-chain investing — analytics, trading execution, and AI agents working together,” Svanevik said. “In GMC’s ecosystem, that positions us well as the infrastructure matures around custody, tokenization, and institutional liquidity.”
Nansen currently tracks over 500 million labeled wallet addresses across major blockchains.
Building Blocks, Not Hype
Still, the Nansen collaboration is the latest in GMC’s series of digital asset partnerships, spanning custody infrastructure, tokenization, institutional liquidity, and legal frameworks.
Jigdrel Singay, a board director at GMC, framed the approach as deliberately incremental.
“At GMC, we are focused on building the supporting layers — data, governance, and human capability — that enable innovation to develop responsibly,” Singay said.
Svanevik described Bhutan’s model as forward-looking rather than reactive.
“Bhutan is building something genuinely new — a jurisdiction designed for the future of finance, not retrofitted from the past,” he said.
Meanwhile, specific details on team size, office setup, and hiring timelines are still being finalized. Svanevik said the operational buildout will take shape over the coming months.
