Suraj Gurung 

Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) unveiled its latest venture, Bhutanverse, a metaverse-based virtual space, at the FAB23 Bhutan International Conference in Thimphu on July 25. 

The metaverse is a vast virtual world on the internet, connecting diverse spaces and activities, allowing people to interact, explore, shop, play, attend events, and work together.

 Collaborating with Smobler and The Sandbox, DHI aims to create an immersive digital experience, allowing global users to explore Bhutan’s rich culture, history, and philosophy from anywhere in the world.

Bhutanverse will be a part of The Sandbox, a blockchain-based decentralized metaverse, and will showcase Bhutanese motifs, art, and architecture.

 The project aims to build knowledge and capacity within Bhutan’s metaverse ecosystem and beyond.

It seeks to achieve this by fostering a domestic metaverse community, bridging connections between Bhutan and the global metaverse and Web3 communities, and serving as a virtual lab for innovation based on metaverse technology.

Ujjwal Deep Dahal, the CEO of DHI, highlighted that Bhutanverse would be a place of cultural innovation, uniting international and Bhutanese Web3 artists, developers, and architects.

 It will offer global audiences a chance to engage with Bhutan’s heritage while empowering local digital communities to explore the potential of Web3 technologies.

The development of Bhutanverse will be a collaborative effort, with DHI launching an open challenge to invite artists and creators to co-design the virtual space. It aims to accelerate the growth of Bhutanverse and the wider metaverse ecosystem, enabling artists to leverage the opportunities presented by Web3 technologies. 

After its launch, the virtual space will host a curated collection of artworks contributed by the local community. 

Loretta Chen, CEO of Smobler, expressed excitement about the project’s potential to unlock economic opportunities and celebrate Bhutan’s unique culture in the digital world.

 Sebastien Borget, COO of The Sandbox, emphasized that the partnership aims to empower Bhutanese creators, providing access to global opportunities and the chance to monetize their talents while showcasing their cultural identity to the world.

Bhutanverse marks another significant step for DHI in the Web3 space, complementing its ongoing projects that leverage blockchain technologies.

This includes the Bhutan National Digital Identity (NDI), a credential-based edge wallet, a national blockchain-based carbon credit platform, and a carbon-free digital asset mining data centre.