Ethereum Foundation public sector home
All case studies

Bhutan National Digital Identity

Bhutan's national digital identity system uses Ethereum to support the verification of digital credentials across public and private services. Individuals control what information they share, while personal data remains outside the blockchain.

449k+ users successfully onboarded to Bhutan NDI by the end of 2025

National digital identity · Kingdom of Bhutan

Institutional context

Launched in 2023, Bhutan NDI provides a common framework for digital identity across public and private services. It aims to make identity verification more consistent across institutions while giving individuals greater control over the personal information they share.

System design

Government agencies and other authorized organizations issue digital credentials—digitally signed records that can be independently verified—to the Bhutan NDI Wallet. When a service requests information, the person approves what they share. The service can verify who issued the credential, whether it remains valid, and whether the information presented matches the credential that was issued.

Bhutan NDI also publishes a public dashboard with indicators on the system’s adoption and use, including service requests, successful onboarding, and app downloads.

In a land-administration pilot announced in June 2026, people could use Bhutan NDI to verify their identity before providing consent to a land transaction. The pilot covered Thimphu, Paro, and Phuentsholing. People unable to access NDI could receive assistance at a land-record office.

Ethereum’s role

Bhutan NDI has integrated Ethereum to support the verification of digital credentials through decentralized identifiers. These are unique digital references that individuals or organizations can control, allowing others to access information needed to verify digital signatures. They help participating services check whether a credential was signed by its stated issuer. The credentials themselves are held in individuals' NDI Wallets, rather than published on Ethereum.

When an individual shares a credential, a participating service can check its authenticity and validity using the NDI system and relevant registry information. This does not require every credential to be issued or verified through a transaction on Ethereum.

Bhutan NDI's governance arrangements determine which organizations are recognized as trusted issuers and verifiers. Ethereum supports technical verification but does not determine institutional authority or whether the information being certified is correct.

Status and milestones

  1. August 2026

    Bhutan NDI’s 2025 annual report documented integration with more than 70 public services through the Government-to-Citizen portal, all five banks, and both telecommunications operators.

  2. March 2026

    The Bhutan NDI Wallet and electronic identity checks were integrated with the national passport system.

  3. December 2025

    By the end of 2025, Bhutan NDI had successfully onboarded 449,549 users, up from 172,922 at the end of 2024. This was an increase of 276,627 users.

  4. October 2025

    Bhutan NDI announced successful integration with Ethereum, with wider migration of the national identity system planned for early 2026.

  5. March 2025

    More than 234,000 digital IDs were reported as issued through the overall NDI rollout.

Implementation considerations

To ensure inclusive access, digital identity systems must account for people who need assistance registering, have limited internet connectivity, or need support recovering access to their credentials and managing credentials that are no longer valid.

Organizations integrating their services with Bhutan NDI must coordinate with the NDI team before making them available to users. Shared technical infrastructure does not remove the need for institutional coordination, user support, and clear responsibilities.

Sources