- Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Crypto, recently visited Washington to talk about blockchain collaboration and flagged pushing a Bitcoin resolution at the UN.
- Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif called crypto “the tool of the future” during his UNGA speech.
- Pakistan’s crypto ecosystem is rapidly evolving, with over 40 million users and a newly formed regulatory authority (PVARA).
Pakistan’s crypto leadership is making waves on the international stage. During the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Bilal bin Saqib, Minister of Crypto, called for the world to deliberate its first UN Resolution on Bitcoin. He even held up a Bitcoin sign at the UN, signaling Pakistan’s ambition to be seen as a thought leader in digital governance.
Courtesy: X.com
A few days before his UN address,Bilal bin Saqib, visited the White House and met with Patrick Witt, the U.S. crypto adviser, to discuss deeper cooperation in blockchain and digital assets.
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Borrowing a leaf from the U.S.
“We looked at how Pakistan can tap into America’s crypto know-how to spark innovation,” Saqib shared, describing the day as a major milestone for Pakistan’s global tech diplomacy. He noted that Pakistan is studying U.S. approaches to expand its digital asset strategy.
Pakistan PM’s ‘Tool for the future’ remark
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during his address at the United Nations General Assembly session in New York, called cryptocurrency a ‘tool of the future’. This was part of his diplomatic and thematic narrative to position Pakistan in the global conversation on crypto and blockchain. It reinforces that Pakistan is not merely watching from the sidelines but sees crypto and blockchain as strategic levers.
For a nation that has historically maintained caution or even outright skepticism toward cryptocurrencies, such a statement helps shape public perception. It acts as a rhetorical anchor for more concrete regulatory moves and signals to investors, both domestic and foreign, that Pakistan wants to be perceived as forward-leaning in digital finance.
Pakistan’s crypto landscape
In March, the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) was formed under the Ministry of Finance, helmed by Bilal bin Saqib, with Changpeng Zhao (former Binance CEO) as strategic adviser. In July, Pakistan passed the Virtual Assets Ordinance, 2025, and created PVARA, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, to license, regulate, and supervise digital assets.
