March 2, 2025
Reaching out to the robust and very active Pakistani crypto community
With an estimated 27 million users in 2025, the Pakistani crypto community could definitely do with some state support (or even acknowledgement.) There are regular web3 events that take place in Pakistan, Pakistani traders, farmers and community members generate a lot of (untaxed) revenue and are also experts in the space. The government is behind the curve on this one and should take full advantage of the tools it potentially has at its disposal.
Laws and regulations
The Pakistani crypto space is currently operating in a grey area. Centralized exchanges are present in Pakistan to the extent that there is messaging and marketing in Urdu from Binance. However, getting money on to and off crypto platforms is not always convenient, even though the introduction of new tools such as virtual crypto debit cards and p2p transfers have made it a little easier. Conversely, the government’s crackdown on p2p merchants and the rampant scammers running unchecked in the space have made it difficult for the average (non-trader) retail investor to enter the market. The SECP’s ‘let things happen approach’, which includes registering exchanges, not banning cryptocurrency outright and registering digital assets trading operations is all well and good, but there could be more done in the future.
Policymaker understanding
There is still a lack of understanding about cryptocurrency, deFi and web3 within the Pakistani policymaker space. This is not a Pakistan-only problem to be fair. Political leadership across the world is struggling to come to terms with the new tech that is coming through web3, and the fact that a vast majority of our politicians are around (or past) the retirement age for most professions does not help. Younger experts and web3 stakeholders needs to be brought to the mainstream and have open discussions with policymakers to help them understand how the digital economy in web3 can help Pakistan progress further.
Internet-friendly policymaking
Web2 or web3, Pakistan’s digital friendly youth population needs a lot more from the government in terms of facilitating resources and tools on the internet. With censorship, intentional frequent internet outages and important tools and websites constantly being blocked (VPNs, twitter, telegram, and even YouTube in the past), Pakistani citizens will constantly have to fight a losing battle against communities and users that have much more advanced resources at their disposal. While countries such as the Netherlands, the US and the UK are providing internet speeds up to 1 Gbps with regular investment in internet infrastructure (data centers, cabling and more), Pakistani users are fighting a losing battle unless they get creative in their internet usage. Fighting ping wars on over 100ms and getting power outages at critical times means we are behind the curve when milliseconds can make the difference in this digital economy. Facilitate the internet, unblock twitter and telegram, provide more internationally accepted tools such as PayPal (it is 2025 and we are still talking about this) and incentivize telcos to invest more in internet infrastructure, or be left behind.
International cooperation
This one is easy. Pakistan, in both policymaking and in terms of citizen participation, lags behind in cooperating on the international scale. Some of this is through obvious political and structural blockers such as the passport and the limited opportunities it provides for travel. Policymakers need to provide solutions or workarounds and also look to participate themselves in important discussions globally. Get us a seat at the table, we desperately need it.
Pic courtesy Arab News