- Pakistan plans Pakistan Bitcoin legalization as Saqib pitches a new policy push.
- Chainalysis ranks Pakistan No. 3 for 2025 adoption, behind India and the United States.
- Officials pitch surplus power for mining and AI, plus staged licensing for exchanges.
Bilal Bin Saqib, Pakistan’s Minister of Blockchain and Crypto, has outlined a definitive roadmap to legalize Bitcoin, framing the asset not as a speculative instrument but as essential financial infrastructure for the nation’s 240 million citizens.
Speaking at the Bitcoin MENA Conference 2025, Saqib confirmed the government is fast-tracking the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Framework to bring the country’s massive shadow market into the light.
Related: Bitcoin Diplomacy: Pakistan and El Salvador Forge Crypto Alliance
Pakistan’s Legalization Pitch Focuses on Scale and Financial Access
According to Saqib, Pakistan is fast-tracking the legalization of Bitcoin and digital assets to revolutionize the financial system for more than 240 million people. Furthermore, Saqib stated that Pakistan’s population consists of more than 100 million unbanked individuals.
Additionally, 70% of Pakistan’s population consists of individuals under the age of 30. As such, Saqib stated that Bitcoin is not a speculative asset for the Pakistan population but an infrastructure for a new financial rail.
Adoption Metrics and Cross-Border Work Sit at the Center of the Case
According to Saqib, Pakistan has the chance to scale more than 40x what El Salvador has done with Bitcoin. Moreover, Saqib noted that Bitcoin and digital assets will enable the huge population of Pakistani freelancers to earn from cross-border opportunities. According to the 2025 global adoption index by Chainalysis, Pakistan ranked 3 only after India and the United States.
Currently, Saqib stated that he has been working to establish the crypto industry through enacting the Pakistan virtual assets regulatory framework and authority. To accelerate the process, Saqib stated that the country is regulating major crypto exchanges, running pilot sandboxes on mining to unlock billions of dollars in investment.
Ultimately, Pakistan is keen to build a talent pipeline for web3 developers to unleash a role model for emerging markets.
Industrial Rebirth of the 21st Century Via Bitcoin Mining and AI Revolution
As for the crypto mining and artificial intelligence spaces, Saqib stated that Pakistan is well-positioned to revolutionize with its excess energy. Moreover, the country is believed to have more than 20GW of excess electricity, which Saqib called a wasted economic oxygen.
“For decades Pakistan has exported rice, cotton, and manpower but now has the chance to export compute, the most valuable commodity of the 21st century,” Saqib stated.
What’s next?
In the near future, Saqib stated that the government will enhance crypto regulatory clarity to attract global capital. Additionally, Saqib stated that Pakistan will regulate the crypto industry in stages, beginning with major exchanges, custody platforms, and later expanding into mining, tokenization, and settlement.
Ultimately, Saqib stated that Pakistan will build infrastructure to regulate the crypto industry through real-time onchain monitoring to move at the speed of markets and not at the speed of bureaucracy. Moreover, Saqib believes the next chapter of Bitcoin adoption will be led by countries where pain is real and potential is massive.
Related: India and the U.S. Lead Global Crypto Adoption in 2025 as Stablecoin Volume Hit $4 Trillion
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