🇧🇹 E-Bhutan: Digital Nation in the Himalayas
Last updated
Last updated
Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom known for its Gross National Happiness, has already embraced the digital age—mining Bitcoin and investing in public digital infrastructure. Now, it’s taking the next leap: building the core tools of a borderless digital economy.
The eBhutan Hackathon will focus on three critical digital infrastructure tracks. Each is designed to deliver a functional prototype and demonstrate how it can create long-term economic and sovereignty benefits for E-Bhutan.
GOAL: Develop a prototype of a stablecoin or digital currency backed by Bhutan’s Bitcoin reserves.
Technical Focus:
Multi-sig treasury wallets.
Transparent reserve dashboards.
Pegging and stabilizing mechanisms.
Open-source smart contracts.
Global wallet interoperability.
National Benefit: A Bitcoin-backed currency provides Bhutan with a globally trusted and tradable asset, enhancing international trade, attracting digital users, and offering monetary resilience.
GOAL: Create a digital eResidency system allowing anyone in the world to become a digital resident of Bhutan from anywhere, online. Bhutan can position itself as the Delaware or Singapore of the digital era, attracting millions of global companies to incorporate there, increasing national income and establishing Bhutan as a trusted business hub.
Technical Focus:
KYC/AML onboarding.
Cryptographic identity credentials or NFTs.
Legal formation workflows to register and incorporate legal entities in Bhutan .
Integration with tax and incorporation systems for digital certificates and tax ID issuance.
Compliance
National Benefit: Inspired by Estonia’s eResidency program (100,000+ users, €100M+ impact), Bhutan can attract millions of remote entrepreneurs, drive new tax revenue, and digitally globalize its economy—without physical migration.
GOAL: Prototype an open-source Sovereign AI system fine-tuned for Bhutanese law, language, values, and government use.
Technical Focus:
Fine-tune open-source LLMs.
Integrate Dzongkha and multilingual support.
Build agentic public service tools.
Ensure transparency, safety, and audibility.
National Benefit: Sovereign AI enables Bhutan to:
Preserve cultural and policy autonomy.
Avoid digital colonialism.
Deploy AI agents as digital civil servants.
Train local talent in next-gen technologies.
Become a leader in ethical, nation-specific AI.
AI is not just a tool—it is the new digital labor force. Bhutan must build its own to protect its sovereignty.
This isn’t just another hackathon. It’s a launchpad for real-world impact.
$10,000 in prize money for the top projects.
Exclusive swag for all participants.
Opportunity to co-create tools real governments could adopt.
Your project becomes part of a global open-source library powering digital governance.
Continue building with support from Draper Nation’s ecosystem.
Gain visibility, credibility, and real-world deployment opportunities.
To be eligible for judging and publication, teams must submit the following by the deadline:
A tangible solution that addresses a core challenge within your selected track.
Can be a visual prototype (with validated feasibility)
Or a working prototype (bonus points for functionality!)
Should clearly demonstrate the intended user experience and impact
As part of Draper Nation’s open-source mission, all submissions must be checked into our public GitHub repository and include:
🧩 Problem Statement What specific challenge does your solution address within the theme?
🧠 Solution Overview How does your prototype approach and solve the identified problem?
🛠️ Tech Stack A brief overview of technologies, frameworks, and tools used.
📁 Assets Include all project files, code repositories, relevant links, and supporting resources.
📣 Remember: What you build here could power real governments. Document it well. Share it proudly. Let it live on.
The E-Bhutan Hackathon will be held at Draper Startup House (DSH), which builds startup societies globally through community, investment, and education.
Ready to build something that outlives the weekend? 👉 and build for impact!
