State Bank of Pakistan’s eight-year restriction on digital assets had frozen the country’s ability to adapt to the technology: Rana Mahmoodul Hassan
ISLAMABAD
Around 40 million Pakistanis now hold cryptocurrency-linked accounts, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib told the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.
Briefing the committee, chaired by Senator Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, Saqib said the State Bank of Pakistan’s eight-year restriction on digital assets had frozen the country’s ability to adapt to the technology. Pakistan, he said, was not trying to promote cryptocurrency but to regulate an activity that had already gained significant traction among young people, noting that the UAE, Hong Kong and Thailand were pursuing similar initiatives.
The committee took up a wide agenda at the meeting, including taxation on digital devices, 5G readiness, virtual-asset regulation, illegal migration, Islamabad Club membership, declaration of foreign citizenship by civil servants, and proposed rules on the use of social media by government employees.
The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat was informed that the PVARA had established its virtual-asset regulatory regime within five months, describing it as one of the fastest such frameworks in the world. Saqib estimated the size of Pakistan’s virtual-asset market at $250 billion, with $10 billion to $20 billion of Pakistani money invested in the sector, and said the majority of users were below the age of 40.
He said around 40 million Pakistanis had crypto-linked accounts, making Pakistan the world’s third-largest crypto market, and argued that the State Bank’s long-standing restrictions had hindered the adoption of the technology.
