Overview
- At Binance Blockchain Week Dubai, PVARA chairman Bilal Bin Saqib said Pakistan will definitely launch a government-linked stablecoin and continue CBDC experimentation.
- Saqib said the stablecoin could be used to collateralise government debt, positioning digital assets as a fiscal tool.
- A Finance Division meeting co-chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Saqib gathered the SBP governor, top bank executives and Binance CEO Richard Teng to review a national digital-asset framework.
- Participants discussed tighter AML-aligned oversight, integration with regulated banks, lower-cost remittance rails, talent development and potential sovereign debt tokenisation.
- Plans under consideration include licensing for exchanges, wallets, custodians and issuers, a compliance-led tax approach with primary oversight via licensed platforms, a gradual capital-gains structure and a possible time-bound amnesty; Chainalysis ranks Pakistan third globally by activity, while user counts remain unverified.