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The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, designated Bilal Bin Saqib, the CEO of Pakistan Crypto Council, as his special aide on blockchain and cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
Saqib\u2019s appointment will be effective immediately under Rule 4(6) of the 1973 Rules of Business. He has been accorded the rank of minister of state and will operate without any salary or governmental benefits, as reported<\/a> by the English-language local news source, Pakistan Observer, on May 26.<\/p>\n This action follows a range of governmental initiatives aimed at fortifying Pakistan’s footprint in the digital asset arena. Just the day before, Pakistan designated 2,000 megawatts of excess electricity solely for Bitcoin mining and AI<\/a> facilities.<\/p>\n In mid-May, the Ministry of Finance in Pakistan also supported<\/a> the establishment of a dedicated agency to supervise the nation\u2019s blockchain-powered financial framework. The Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) will function as a regulatory entity overseeing licensing, regulating exchanges<\/a>, custodians, wallets, tokenized platforms, stablecoins, and decentralized finance tools.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Pakistan aims for a legal crypto framework to increase foreign investment<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Saqib is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and has been honored with the title of Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by King Charles III. He is currently at the helm of the Pakistan Crypto Council, where he brought on former Binance CEO Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao<\/a> as an advisor. He has also been featured on Forbes\u2019 30 under 30 list.<\/p>\n In his role as special assistant to the prime minister, Saqib will be responsible for drafting Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-compliant crypto regulations, initiating state-supported Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) mining initiatives, and managing blockchain integration within governance, land records, and financial systems. He will not be compensated with a salary, perks, or privileges, as stated by Pakistan Observer.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Pakistan takes steps to regulate cryptocurrency and CBDCs as legal currency<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Pakistan is immersing itself in the crypto sector. In late April, the Donald Trump-endorsed World Liberty Financial entered into a Letter of Intent with the Pakistan Crypto Council<\/a> to expedite crypto integration in the nation, recognized as one of the rapidly developing markets in the industry.<\/p>\n Recently, Pakistani regulators suggested a regulatory framework for digital assets<\/a> that is centered on compliance and aligns with the stipulations set forth by the FATF. The Director of Pakistan\u2019s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Sumera Azam, characterized the framework as a \u201cparadigm shift in the country\u2019s perception of digital finance.\u201d \u201cThe policy proposal aims to achieve a historical equilibrium between technological progress and national security needs,\u201d Azam remarked in April.<\/p>\n Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>AI restores vision, \u2018beneficial\u2019 propaganda bots, OpenAI doomsday bunker: AI Eye<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\nSaqib appointed special assistant for blockchain<\/h2>\n
Pakistan investing in cryptocurrency<\/h2>\n