Can Binance founder help Pakistan become a crypto power?

Pakistan is ready to launch digital crypto currency. For the promotion of this technology, the Crypto Council has started working to protect digital assets.

CZ’s inclusion could be considered a digital explosion in Pakistan. The Binance founder’s personal assets are worth 80 billion dollars, which is many times more than Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.

Flanked by Pakistan’s flags, Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, signed on to become an adviser to the country’s newly formed regulator for the sector.

After being skittish about digital currencies for years, Islamabad in March launched the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), aimed at embracing innovation in the sector, while also creating a regulatory framework which protects investors and the financial system.

By convincing one of the sector’s biggest names to join as an adviser to the PCC, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government appears eager to signal an openness to crypto at a time when the global economy is in major churn, said analysts.

“We are sending a clear message to the world: Pakistan is open for innovation,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, describing Zhao’s appointment as a “landmark moment”.

“With CZ onboard, we are accelerating our vision to make Pakistan a regional powerhouse for Web3, digital finance, and blockchain-driven growth,” Aurangzeb said, referring to Zhao by his initials – as he is widely known in the finance world.

Zhao, a Chinese-born Canadian tech entrepreneur with personal wealth estimated at more than $60bn, served a four-month prison term in the United States last year after pleading guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws. But that hasn’t dimmed his stature in the crypto world.

According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, Zhao will work closely with the government to develop a “competitive crypto ecosystem”, while providing guidance on “regulation, infrastructure, education, and adoption”.

“Pakistan is a country of 240 million people, over 60 percent of whom are under the age of 30. The potential here is limitless,” Zhao was quoted as saying in the ministry’s announcement.

The appointment of Zhao is the latest in a recent wave of moves by the Sharif government aimed at regulating and integrating cryptocurrency innovations into the national financial framework.

Pakistan’s central bank had banned financial institutions from processing cryptocurrency transactions in 2018. Now, the country’s view of crypto appears to be changing.

Following the PCC’s formation, Pakistan also appointed Bilal bin Saqib, a British Pakistani tech entrepreneur, as “chief adviser” to Finance Minister Aurangzeb.

Saqib, speaking after his appointment last month, said that Pakistan already had many crypto users.

“Some 15 to 20 million Pakistanis hold crypto today. The country possesses billions of US dollars in crypto transactions, so of course we want to make this legal. We want to have a clear regulatory framework so we can bring in investments and we can let the ecosystem flourish in Pakistan,” he said in an interview.

Observers point to the influence of US President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies, noting that Pakistan is reassessing its own position, evidenced by the PCC’s formation and Zhao’s appointment.

While he was a critic of cryptocurrencies in his first term as president, Trump has over time changed his views.

Subsequently, last month, Trump announced the names of five cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, which he expects to include in a new US strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies.

Saqib also acknowledged Trump’s impact on global crypto regulations.

“Trump is making crypto a national priority, and every country, including Pakistan, will have to follow suit,” he said.

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