ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Saturday announced that it has initiated a deal with President Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial to accelerate the journey towards legally adopting digital currencies, in a move that might follow a slew of legal changes to inch towards the crypto world.
The Ministry of Finance made the announcement following separate meetings between the World Liberty Financial (WLF) delegation and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. The deputy prime minister is taking keen interest in promotion of crypto currencies.
“World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform backed by the US President Donald Trump, has signed a landmark Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) to accelerate blockchain innovation, stablecoin adoption, and decentralized finance (DeFi) integration across Pakistan,” stated the Ministry of Finance.
The public announcement about signing the Letter of Intent was made a day after President Donald Trump commented on the recent wave of hostilities between India and Pakistan.
“I am very close to India and I’m very close to Pakistan . they’ll get it figured out one way or the other. I’m sure I know both leaders”, said Trump.
The finance ministry stated that the WLF delegation – including Zachary Folkman, Zachary Witkoff (son of Steve Witkoff who’s the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East), and Chase Herro – met with Pakistan’s leadership including the Prime Minister, Chief of Army Staff, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Information and Minister of Defence to formalize cooperation.
It added that cooperation will mark a major step toward positioning Pakistan as a global leader in the digital finance revolution.
Early this month, Pakistan also appointed Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance and one of the most influential figures in Web3, as a Strategic Advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council. Zhao had also met with Shehbaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Punjab leadership, in addition to meeting with other key stakeholders.
Reuters reported last month that the Trump family has a claim on 60% from World Liberty Financial operations once the core business gets going.
World Liberty disclosed in January that the Trump family had taken control of the business. Two of its co-founders, crypto entrepreneurs Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, were replaced as the controlling parties of World Liberty by an entity in which the Trump family holds a 60% stake, according to Reuters.
The WLF goal is to allow people to access financial services using crypto currencies and without intermediaries like banks in what is called decentralized finance, or DeFi. World Liberty Financial last month raised $550 million selling so-called governance tokens. Most of those sales took place after Trump’s election win in November, Reuters calculations show.
The finance ministry said that Pakistan’s proactive approach demonstrates its commitment to embracing the next wave of financial innovation.
“The government has signaled plans to very soon announce comprehensive crypto legalization policies, further strengthening Pakistan’s position as one of the fastest-growing crypto markets in the world”, according to the Finance Ministry.
Dealing in crypto currencies is so far illegal in Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan has recommended to gradually adopt the new currencies and begin with centralized digital currencies.
The Finance Ministry said that the Letter of Intent was signed during the meeting of World Liberty Financial and Pakistan Crypto Council. The meeting included the Finance Minister of Pakistan, CEO of the Council, Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Chairman SECP and Federal Secretary for Information Technology.
The scope of cooperation between Pakistan Crypto Council and World Liberty Financial outlines collaboration in launching regulatory sandboxes for blockchain financial product testing, facilitating the responsible growth of DeFi protocols and exploring tokenization of real-world assets like real estate and commodities.
Among other areas of cooperation are expanding stablecoin applications for remittances and trade, and providing strategic advisory on blockchain infrastructure and global regulatory trends, according to the Finance Ministry.
The ministry said that Pakistan offers one of the world’s most promising digital economies, with over 64% of its population under the age of 30. The country ranks among the top in global crypto adoption, with an estimated $300 billion in annual crypto transactions and 25 million active crypto users.
With rising mobile penetration, a vibrant freelance economy, and strong government interest in blockchain, Pakistan’s youth are uniquely positioned to drive the next wave of Web3 innovation, it added.
Pakistan’s youth and technology sector are our greatest assets. Through partnerships like this, we are opening new doors for investment, innovation, and global leadership in the blockchain economy., Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb stated
CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council Bilal Bin Saqib added that the collaboration with World Liberty Financial is more than just a partnershipit’s a strategic move to empower our young population and integrate Pakistan into the future of global finance.
World Liberty Financial leadership praised Pakistan’s dynamism, stating, “Pakistan’s energy, vision, and talent make it one of the most exciting places in the world to build the future of decentralized finance.”
Meanwhile, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that there were good opportunities related to crypto currency in Pakistan.
Talking on the occasion of signing of agreements between Pakistan Crypto Council and World Liberty Financial, Tarar said that a crypto council has been established in Pakistan.
“Pakistan has made progress related to crypto in a very short time,” Tarar said.
The minister remarked that there were attractive investment opportunities in various sectors in Pakistan.
Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Crypto Council Bilal Bin Saeed and Co-founder of World Liberty Financial Zach Witkoff also talked to media.
Bilal Bin Saeed welcomed Co- founder of World Liberty Financial Zach Witkoff in Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion Zach Witkoff said Pakistan was a rapidly emerging economy and there were opportunities for investment.