Pakistan crypto chief announces Bitcoin strategic reserve
Bilal Bin Saqib, head of Pakistan’s crypto council, announced on May 28 that the country is moving to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saqib said the government of Pakistan followed the United States’ lead in establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve and is embracing pro-crypto regulatory policies. The government official told the audience:
“Today is a very historic day. Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them.”
The announcement represents a significant departure from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on cryptocurrencies, holding that crypto would never be legal in the country.
Pakistan’s shift reflects the broader trend of nation-states adopting pro-crypto policies following the regulatory shift in Washington, DC under the President Donald Trump administration.
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Pakistan shifts stance toward cryptocurrencies
Pakistan government first explored the idea of a “National Crypto Council” in February 2025 to oversee the development of a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and to attract foreign investment.
Several initiatives were proposed by the Council, including using runoff energy to mine BTC or data centers, and accumulating BTC for a national treasury.
In May 2025, the Council announced the allocation of 2,000 megawatts of excess energy to Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing data centers.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao is one of the Council’s advisers. Appointed in April, the executive will advise on crypto regulations, blockchain infrastructure, and the adoption of digital assets.
Trump’s World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized finance protocol, signed a letter of intent on April 27 to help the country to tokenize real-world assets, build DeFi architecture, and experiment with crypto products.
More recently, in May 2025, Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance commissioned the establishment of an entirely new agency to oversee digital asset regulations in Pakistan. The Digital Asset Authority will oversee the regulation of crypto platforms and issue licenses to digital asset providers operating in the country.
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