In a recent Roundtable interview, Bilal Bin Saqib, chairman of Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council, told host Jackson Hinkle that Pakistan isn’t trying to catch up to the region.
He’s instead betting on the country to set the pace.
Pakistan’s regulatory ambition takes shape
Pressed on why Asia feels “lagging” on adoption outside of places like Singapore, Saqib said Pakistan plans to “create an enabling environment” and a regulatory framework that countries
“from Morocco to Malaysia will get inspired from.”
He framed the push as a generational shift, arguing Pakistan’s leadership wants to regulate for the future and that the goal is to support a youth-led economy building onchain.
That ambition is now showing up in policy moves.
Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Binance to explore tokenizing up to $2 billion of sovereign assets, while Binance and HTX were also cleared to begin the process of applying for local crypto exchange licenses.
Reuters has also reported that Pakistan is building out a broader digital-asset framework, pairing regulation with experimentation, including partnerships tied to stablecoins and digital payments.
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India’s cautious, ambiguous crypto stance
Across the border, India still hasn’t offered the kind of clean, comprehensive crypto framework Pakistan is describing.
India’s central bank has repeatedly warned about risks, including concerns around stablecoins and monetary sovereignty, as the government continues to weigh how far it wants to go on formal legalization and regulation.
Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, during a news conference in New Delhi
Source: Getty Images
Meanwhile, in practice, crypto in India operates more like a regulated-adjacent asset class than a fully recognized financial system, leaving businesses and users in a familiar grey zone.
Clarity attracts capital, says Pakistan regulator
Saqib’s core pitch is simple.
“From confusion to clarity. Because clarity attracts capital.”
He said Pakistan’s goal is to bring existing adoption “into a regulatory regime,” expand the tax base, and improve consumer protections, while still staying “pro-innovation.”
“A Hyperliquid out of Lahore or Karachi… a Uniswap coming out of Pakistan.”
He also floated bigger ambitions, like using crypto rails for everyday Pakistanis (“farmers can access DeFi yield on chain”), converting “surplus electricity into Bitcoin mining,” and inspiring local founders to build the next major protocol.
