Pakistan can become a global leader in cryptocurrency by 2030, according to Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, especially if it sustains its momentum in regulatory and adoption efforts.
This comes as the country ranked among the top three nations globally for crypto adoption in 2025, despite having no comprehensive legal framework at the start of the year
Speaking to Bilal bin Saqib, the Pakistan Crypto Council chief executive, CZ mentioned how top officials in Pakistan have been mindful of the high demand for digital assets from a digitally native and largely young population. He commended the country for having clear direction from its leadership and the ability to move quickly. He noted, “If we keep moving at this speed in five years, Pakistan will be the crypto leader, one of the crypto leaders in the world.”
CZ tells young entrepreneurs to explore crypto and blockchain
CZ pointed out that due to its young population and impressive governance, Pakistan overtakes most countries when it comes to crypto adoption.
He also encouraged young Pakistanis to explore crypto projects while being mindful of the risks. He argued that there are now more blockchain opportunities than those offered by banks and AI systems. He commented, “If a young person wants to start a bank, it’s pretty limited opportunities […] If they want to build an AI company, they probably don’t have the large data, the large compute, all the chips, so both of those industries require quite a bit of resources to do a startup.”
He further explained that since blockchain and cryptocurrency are virtual, there is no possibility of getting turned away, which makes these technologies well-suited to entrepreneurs. However, he also emphasized the importance of university programs, incubators, and educational initiatives in promoting innovation and growth.
Speaking on global adoption, the Binance founder emphasized that cryptocurrency is still in its early stages of development, with many new products to come. He claimed the industry is nowhere near saturated and still has many untapped opportunities.
Pakistan has already made substantive strides towards crypto regulation and development. For starters, it established the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, which has so far called on major exchanges and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to submit Expressions of Interest for their operations in-country. More recently, it granted NOCs to Binance and HTX, allowing them to register locally. The nation is also developing a Bitcoin reserve and tokenizing real-world assets to attract foreign investment and improve liquidity.
In May, Pakistani authorities also allocated 2,000 megawatts of power to fuel Bitcoin mining and AI data centres as part of a broader digital strategy aimed at global leadership. At the time, Saqib had even noted that they intended to turn the nation into a worldwide powerhouse for crypto and artificial intelligence.
CZ encourages Pakistan to tokenize more of its stocks
Still in his interview with Saqib, CZ explained that tokenizing Pakistan’s stock market could open it up to global investors, adding that all countries want their stocks to be accessible to a global audience.
He advised Pakistan to move fast on tokenization, emphasizing that the first countries to implement it will benefit the most.
Earlier this month, the nation inked a memorandum of understanding with Binance to potentially tokenize $2 billion in government securities and commodity reserves. At the time of signing, Zhao stated that the deal sent a strong signal to the global blockchain sector and Pakistan, marking the beginning of full tokenization efforts.
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