TRX
Pakistan just flipped the switch
For years, Pakistan’s crypto scene was basically the kid sneaking snacks after bedtime: plenty of activity, no official permission. Now the central bank says banks can service licensed virtual asset providers, which is a pretty big deal if you think the whole point of crypto is to become less… awkwardly unbanked.
Bilal Bin Saqib, chairman of the country’s virtual-asset regulator, framed it as moving from “restriction to regulation.” Translation: the government is trying to swap whack-a-mole enforcement for an actual rulebook.
Why investors should care
This isn’t just policy cosplay. Pakistan is also:
- bringing in Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao as a strategic adviser
- working with Tron-linked businesses
- exploring stablecoins for cross-border payments via World Liberty Financial
- floating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
- and even earmarking 2,000 megawatts for BTC mining and AI data centers
That’s a lot of crypto ambition for one headline. If even part of it sticks, the country could become a real test case for how emerging markets use digital assets to attract capital, payments activity, and infrastructure investment.
India’s still playing defense
Meanwhile, India is taking the more familiar “tax it, but don’t exactly embrace it” approach. Crypto is treated as a Virtual Digital Asset there, with a 30% flat tax on gains and a 1% levy on transfers, but without a dedicated licensing framework. So yes, the government wants a cut — it just isn’t handing out a warm legal hug.
That gap matters because South Asia is already a heavyweight in retail crypto adoption. Chainalysis ranked India first and Pakistan third in its 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, which means the demand is there whether regulators like it or not.
Big picture
Pakistan is trying to turn crypto from a gray-zone hobby into a regulated industry, while India is still searching for the right balance between control and clarity. For investors, that could mean the next wave of adoption news may come less from Silicon Valley and more from places trying to leapfrog the old financial plumbing.