KARACHI: The government seems willing to fast-track the adoption of crypto currencies for banks, foreign exchange companies and gold trading, sources told Dawn after a high-level meeting on Tuesday.
A day earlier, representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan, finance ministry, commercial banks and exchange companies met with senior security officials to discuss steps to bring down the dollar price, stabilise the exchange rate and stop the smuggling of US currency to Afghanistan and Iran.
Another meeting, held on Tuesday, was dominated by the crypto agenda and saw Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) CEO Bilal Bin Saqib gave a presentation on the usage of virtual currencies in Pakistan.
In May, Mr Saqib was appointed the PM’s special assistant on blockchain and cryptocurrency, with the status of a minister of state.
“We were told that the cryptos are the future currency for the changed economic world,” said a banker, on condition of anonymity.
He said the presentation and subsequent Q&A on crypto took “80 per cent time” of the meeting held on Tuesday.
Participants of the meeting Dawn spoke to said it seemed like the government was in hurry to make use of cryptocurrencies on a large scale and make them part of the economy as soon as possible.
Some have raised questions about the high-level of risk involved, but Mr Saqib played down the speculative risks.
Although cryptocurrencies have been in vogue for years, most central banks around the world have steered clear of any attempts to regulate them.
On July 9, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmed had said that they were preparing to launch a pilot for a digital currency, and were finalising legislation to regulate virtual assets.
The SBP and Finance Division are currently engaged with the Pakistan Crypto Council to develop an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for virtual assets.
“Risks are still high, since the prices of cryptocurrencies fluctuate with wide margin, like Bitcoin prices could jump from $35,000 to to $70,000,” a financial expert said.
However, he claimed that both the SBP and the government were ready for crypto transactions.
On Tuesday, banks, foreign exchange companies and gold traders were briefed on the benefit of such currencies.
Participants of the meeting were told that the central bank would issue licenses for crypto trading banks and other financial institutions. One banker hinted at the possibility of opening field offices in major cities to make virtual assets easily accessible and promote virtual transactions.
Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2025
