Pakistan's crypto chief said it is moving quickly to position itself as a regional leader in crypto regulation.
Bilal Bin Saqib, chairman of Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council, said the country is building a regulatory framework designed for the future, with the aim of becoming a model for other emerging markets across Asia, the Middle East and beyond.
When asked by TheStreet Roundtable on why most major Asian economies, including India and China feel “lagging” on adoption and asked whether Pakistan could become a model for the region, Saqib responded by positioning Pakistan as a counterexample built on speed and clarity.
“Pakistan will let them know or will tell them how this is done. Pakistan will create an enabling environment, a regulatory framework that countries from Morocco to Malaysia will get inspired from, that whole belt.”
And he closed by arguing that ambiguity is what Pakistan is trying to avoid:
'Uniswap coming out of Pakistan,' possible: Pakistan crypto chief
Sakib added ambitions of next DeFi apps coming out of Pakistan.
He also floated bigger ambitions, like using crypto rails for everyday Pakistanis (“farmers can access DeFi yield on chain”), converting “surplus electricity into Bitcoin mining,” and inspiring local founders to build the next major protocol.
Notably, Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Binance to explore tokenizing up to $2 billion of sovereign assets, while Binance and HTX were also cleared to begin the process of applying for local crypto exchange licenses.
The country is also partnering with a crypto firm tied to the Trump family, as reported by Reuters, to explore using a U.S. dollar–backed stablecoin for cross-border payments.
The latest move comes as Pakistan advances plans for virtual asset regulation and a central bank digital currency pilot, aiming to modernize remittances and digital payments.