Pakistan did not wake up one morning and decide it liked cryptocurrencies, the chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) said.
PVARA Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib told Consensus Hong Kong 2026 on Thursday that the country is in an unusual position, with one of the largest cryptocurrency markets in the world but no guardrails at all.
“Pakistan does realize that by 2025, approximately 40 million of our citizens are already trading digital assets with zero rules, zero protection and zero benefits coming back to the country,” Bin Saqib said via virtual link. “The market is there, but the regulations are not. So, essentially, we are trying to move from a gray market to a regulated market.”
In fact, Pakistan has the third-largest cryptocurrency market in terms of retail activity, ahead of places like Germany and Japan, Bin Saqib said. This is because Pakistan is not only an emerging economy but it is also a young country in terms of demographics. About 70% of the population of 250 million is under the age of 30.
“We are among the most tech-savvy young people on the planet,” said the PVARA president. “We have over 100 million unbanked citizens who have no savings tools, no investment tools, no way to escape their economic class. Hence why cryptocurrencies and blockchain are not a luxury for Pakistan. It is a ladder for the masses.”
Pakistan’s Bitcoin Strategic Reserve and National Mining Plan
One area of interest for the crypto industry is Bin Saqib’s announcement last year at the Bitcoin Las Vegas conference that Pakistan planned to establish a $68,087.00 Bitcoin strategic reserve and support Bitcoin mining.
Ben Saqib noted that this was more than “an announcement,” but added that “when you’re dealing with strategic issues like Bitcoin reserves or national energy allocation, speed without structure can be dangerous.”
As for the reserves, “the first step is that we identify the digital assets held by the state, bring them into a formal state-controlled custody framework, and establish transparency, accountability and standards. This is not about speculation; it is about treating digital assets as sovereign wealth,” Bin Saqib said.
On the mining side, he said: “We have identified locations where there is surplus power and now we are assessing the economics and impact, while we are also working with miners and AI computing operators around the world.”
Bin Saqib stated that the project aims to follow a “responsible partnership model” as this is not just an independent crypto experiment.
“This is part of a broader strategy around energy optimization, computing power and the nation’s digital infrastructure. Because Bitcoin mining and AI data centers are two mechanisms for converting unused energy into productive capacity in our country.”