Islamabad: Pakistani citizens are estimated to hold more than $30billion worth of cryptocurrencies, making the country one of the largestuntapped crypto markets in Asia, according to a new report discussed at aseminar hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Experts at the event cautioned that Pakistan’s continued delay indeveloping a legal and regulatory framework for digital assets couldresult in a massive economic opportunity loss. They highlighted thatneighboring countries, including India and the UAE, are already movingahead with structured crypto and blockchain policies.
“Millions of Pakistanis are already using crypto platforms informally. Theabsence of regulation doesn’t stop activity—it just pushes it underground,”one SDPI researcher noted, adding that Pakistan could attract foreigninvestment, tech innovation, and new tax revenue if it formalized thesector.
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has reportedly made progresson a “digital rupee” prototype, developed in collaboration with theInternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The central bank’s digitalcurrency aims to make transactions more transparent and reduce costs in thefinancial system.
Read Top Stories
Analysts believe that integrating a digital rupee with a regulated cryptoframework could position Pakistan as a regional leader in fintech andblockchain innovation—but only if policymakers act swiftly.
“Delaying regulation is like ignoring the internet in the 1990s. Those whoadapt early will shape the future economy,” said one expert during thediscussion.