Pakistan seeks role in shaping global digital finance

Pakistan's Minister of State and chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, Bilal Bin Saqib, said Saturday the country aims to help shape the future of global digital finance.

He made the remarks at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich, as governments and regulators move to establish frameworks for tokenized money and virtual assets.

What is Pakistan's strategy for digital finance?

Pakistan is pursuing what Bin Saqib called a "Pakistan-first strategy" for digital assets, urging emerging economies to help shape global standards rather than adopt frameworks designed elsewhere. He argued that countries seeing widespread digital asset adoption should focus on regulating the underlying infrastructure instead of trying to curb its growth.

Speaking at the forum, Bin Saqib said the global financial system was undergoing a fundamental transformation, with digital assets increasingly changing how money moves across borders. "The rules governing money are being rewritten, and Pakistan will help write them," he said, according to a statement issued by PVARA on Saturday.

What did Bin Saqib say about money becoming software?

Bin Saqib told delegates that money had effectively become software, arguing that traditional financial systems tied strictly to national currencies and borders were rapidly evolving. He made the remarks during a panel discussion on tokenized money, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies.

"The countries that will do well are the ones willing to acknowledge that this transformation is already underway," he said. "Our job is not to forbid the future but to govern it well." The panel also featured Mampho Modise and focused on regulatory challenges surrounding CBDCs, stablecoins and tokenized financial systems.

Who did Bin Saqib meet with at the Point Zero Forum?

According to PVARA, Bin Saqib also took part in closed-door discussions with central bankers, regulators and financial executives from Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, Gulf states and Europe. The talks focused on how countries can benefit from dollar-denominated tokenized systems while maintaining monetary sovereignty and oversight of domestic financial flows.

PVARA said Pakistan ranked third globally in grassroots cryptocurrency adoption in the 2025 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, behind India and the United States. The authority attributed the country's rapid adoption to its young population, expanding freelance economy, remittance inflows of more than $38 billion annually and the growing use of stablecoins as a hedge against inflation.

The Point Zero Forum, held in Zurich from June 23 to 25, brought together more than 2,000 central bankers, regulators and financial industry executives to discuss the future of financial technology and regulation.