Pakistan is encouraging Web3 and crypto startups to pitch their innovation ideas to relevant authorities. CoinHeadlines caught up with Bilal bin Saqib, the President of the Pakistan Crypto Council along the sidelines of the Binance Blockchain Week 2025. Detailing what the future holds for the country, Saquib said he hopes more young builders step up their games and showcase their ideas with blockchain and crypto.
The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) is looking to incubate Web3 startups originating in the nation, Saqib said. He noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has mandated the PVARA to incubate WWeb3 startups with potential and accelerate the development of their ideas to explore the digital assets space. Essentially, Saqib said, PVARA has been directed to become a state bank for digital assets.
Talking about Pakistan’s regulatory standpoint around crypto, Saqib noted that the country wishes to integrate AI into its regulatory efforts.
“We are creating the world’s first AI-enabled regulatory authority to oversee emerging advanced technologies like crypto. We want to soon create a framework that is FATF compliant. Perhaps, this is the opportunity that could make Pakistan a role-model in designing a pro-technology regulatory regime,” Saqib told CoinHeadlines – skipping elaborate details on how exactly is the nation planning to incorporate AI with crypto regulations.
In June this year, Saqib met with a number of U.S. government officials in Washington to discuss cooperative efforts around crypto and blockchain developments as well as regulations. Senator Cynthia Lummins and Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Banking Committee were among regulators Saqib had reportedly interacted at the time.
Speaking about the results of these meetings he said, “We wish to work closely with the U.S. because they are ‘slightly’ ahead in the adoption of digital assets. And also with their capital markets, with their banking infrastructure, with NASDAQ, and how they are incorporating rules such as the GENIUS Act, upcoming market structure bill, there is a lot to learn.”
U.S. President Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial entered into a partnership with the Pakistan Crypto Council aiming to explore real-world assets, stablecoins, blockchain, and DeFi.
“We want to make Pakistan a case study on how emerging markets adopt the digital assets framework. I think it’s a great way to brand our country like that,” Saqib noted.
Saqib, who also met El Slalvador’s President Nayib Bukele praised his leadership for being bold in declaring BTC as a legal tender back in 2021 when the industry was still coming to terms with the asset’s legitimacy.