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Coin Geek
10-07-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
IMF denies rejecting Pakistan's Bitcoin mining plans
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has denied reports that it vetoed Pakistan's plan to channel its surplus energy to block reward mining. In May, Pakistan's Crypto Council revealed that it was working on an ambitious plan to allocate at least 2,000 MW of electricity to block reward mining. Most of it would be surplus electricity, with millions of Pakistanis abandoning the national grid for cheaper wind and solar energy alternatives. However, recent local reports claimed that the IMF had rejected the plan. The Washington-based lender reportedly questioned the legality of the plan and the impact it would have on the national grid. Last week, one local outlet claimed that the Power Secretary, Fakhre Alam Irfan, had told the Senate that the mining plan would likely be dropped due to the lender's pushback. The IMF and Pakistan's Power Division, which oversees the industry, have refuted the claims. Zafar Yab Khan, a spokesperson for the division, told Arab News that the media had misquoted the Secretary. 'He (the Secretary) categorically said that 'we are still in negotiations with the IMF and discussing with them pros and cons of this initiative and hopeful to reach a solution during these negotiations,'' Khan stated. He added that the Power Ministry can confirm that it had sufficient electricity to power block reward mining and other data center initiatives. According to earlier reports, the row between the IMF and the Pakistani government had attracted the attention of the World Bank and other development partners, which are also now involved in the negotiations. On its part, the IMF also dismissed the allegations. Mahir Binici, Pakistan's resident representative at the lender, said the two sides were discussing the issue, but nothing had been decided yet. 'IMF staff has held informational discussions at a technical level with the authorities to learn more about their plans related to developing the IT sector,' Binici said. The IMF's primary concern was reportedly that the plan would exacerbate economic imbalances in the country, similar to other tax breaks on specific sectors. 'Staff reiterated the importance of maintaining a level playing field for all private sector participants and will continue to engage with the authorities on this as appropriate as plans develop further,' Binici stated. Meanwhile, the Pakistani government announced the creation of a new digital asset industry regulator on Monday. Known as the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), it was approved by the Cabinet and now awaits the green light from regulators before it takes over. '…the authority will be responsible for issuing licenses, supervising VASPs, setting technical standards, and coordinating compliance with FATF, IMF, and World Bank guidelines,' a statement from the Finance Ministry says. PVARA was previously proposed as the Pakistan Digital Asset Authority. Digital asset regulation in Pakistan has been disparate and uncoordinated, with up to four watchdogs sharing responsibility. The securities watchdog has been the most advanced and has been fighting against the central bank's ban on digital asset payments for years. PVARA comes four months after the formation of the Pakistan Crypto Council, which has been pushing for the adoption and regulation of digital assets. Pakistan PM: Double digital payments targets As digital asset adoption soars in Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wants the country to supercharge the growth of its digital economy. Pakistan has set a short-term target of increasing its mobile money users from 95 million to 120 million and doubling the number of merchants accepting QR payments to 2 million. However, according to the PM, the targets are not ambitious enough. 'A digital transaction system is essential for bringing transparency to the economy. It is an urgent need of the hour to ease payments between citizens and businesses and raise awareness about the use of digital systems,' he stated, as reported by Arab News. The government has formed three committees to focus on boosting digital payments, digital public infrastructure, and government payments. Sharif called on the three to present to him workable proposals, although the timeline for the targets was not disclosed. Pakistan has lagged behind neighbors like India and Bangladesh in terms of digital payments. In India, UPI has significantly boosted uptake; in May, it recorded 18.7 billion transactions, processing $294 billion. Watch | Mining Disrupt 2025 Highlights: Profitable trends every miner should know title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Business Recorder
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
FATF & Pak quest for cryptocurrency
Recognising the global shift toward digital finance, the government of Pakistan has recently initiated concrete steps to legalize cryptocurrency. This shift gained momentum following the Crypto Council's resolution to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework aligned with international standards. The decision comes at a time when the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in its sixth targeted update published on 26 June 2025, has emphasized the urgent need for jurisdictions to implement robust Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) measures concerning Virtual Assets (VAs) and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). This FATF update serves as a pivotal guidepost for Pakistan as it endeavours to pose as a responsible participant in the global crypto ecosystem, echoing global expectations articulated in Recommendation 15 (R.15) and its interpretative note (INR.15), the bases for regulating this sector since 2019. FATF's latest report acknowledges progress made globally, including jurisdictions with materially significant VASP activity, those constituting approximately 98% of this market. The report reveals that 138 jurisdictions have been assessed under R.15 as of April 2025, of which only 1 jurisdiction is rated as fully compliant while 40 jurisdictions (29%) rated largely compliant, showing modest advancement from 2024. FATF's findings underline that despite significant regulatory developments, including Pakistan's recent legal and institutional overtures, fundamental implementation gaps remain. FATF highlights the inability of many jurisdictions to identify natural or legal persons conducting VASP activities, lack of enforcement against offshore entities, and significant challenges in implementing Travel Rule which mandates the sharing of sender and receiver information during VA transfers. This Travel Rule has been legislated in 85 of 117 jurisdictions as of 2025, yet enforcement remains weak. FATF particularly urges jurisdictions, including Pakistan, to formulate comprehensive risk assessments of VAs and VASPs. FATF's 2025 report shows that only 76 percent of jurisdictions have completed such assessments. Despite this, a critical shortcoming remains in the operationalization of supervisory frameworks. FATF calls for immediate actions such as licensing, risk-based supervision, and enforcement measures. In Pakistan's case, the regulatory trajectory must include legislation that addresses both domestic and offshore VASP activity, integrating preventive mechanisms to mitigate risks related to money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF), and proliferation financing (PF). The report also sheds light on emergent and growing risks. Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) record-setting $1.46 billion theft from the VASP ByBit in 2025 and the subsequent laundering of funds through 125,000 Ethereum wallets exemplifies the scope of cross-border cyber exploitation. Only 3.8% of these funds have been recovered, underlining the urgent need for enhanced asset recovery mechanisms. FATF's report also reveals that US$51 billion in illicit activity from fraud and scams was conducted through virtual assets in 2024, and much of it involved stablecoins, which have grown to dominate the volume of on-chain illicit transactions. FATF identifies the use of USDT on the Tron network as a preferred channel for criminal actors due to its transaction speed and anonymity-enhancing capabilities. FATF's recommendations for public authorities include five primary priorities. Firstly, jurisdictions must finalize ML/TF/PF risk assessments and implement mitigation strategies. Secondly, jurisdictions must either fully regulate or clearly prohibit VAs and VASPs—with a caution that prohibition is often difficult to enforce effectively. Thirdly, regulatory frameworks must include licensing and identification mechanisms, including offshore VASPs. Fourthly, Travel Rule should be legislated and operationalized with urgency. Lastly, regulators must monitor and address risks arising from stablecoins, DeFi arrangements, and fraud ecosystems involving AI-enabled frauds and unregulated wallets. For the private sector, FATF calls on VASPs to improve risk assessment capabilities, mitigate stablecoin-specific threats, and adopt measures that respond to scams such as address poisoning and pig butchering. FATF also outlines its roadmap for the Virtual Assets Contact Group (VACG), which includes preparing targeted reports on DeFi, stablecoins, and offshore VASPs between October 2025 and June 2026. These reports will guide future regulatory calibrations. The VACG is also tasked with maintaining the updated public table of jurisdictions with materially important VASP activity, which now includes nine additional non-FATF jurisdictions for 2025. FATF urges jurisdictions to designate unregulated VASPs as higher-risk and encourages adoption of 2021 updated guidance on a risk-based approach. The current implementation status for Recommendation 15 shows improvement yet persistent challenges. Of the 138 jurisdictions assessed as of April 2025, 29% are rated largely compliant (up from 25% in 2024), 49% are partially compliant, and 21% remain non-compliant. Only one jurisdiction globally is rated fully compliant. Within the Travel Rule domain, while 73% of jurisdictions have passed relevant legislation, only 41% have operationalized it through enforcement or supervision. FATF notes that the lack of coordination between jurisdictions remains a significant vulnerability given the borderless nature of VAs. FATF's annexed table reveals that countries like the Bahamas, Malta, and Luxembourg have achieved considerable implementation success. In contrast, countries such as Pakistan, which are in the process of formalizing legal and institutional measures, must accelerate their alignment with the FATF's standards. As Pakistan advances toward regulating its crypto landscape, learning from these jurisdictions' approaches especially around licensing, risk assessment, and enforcement will be essential. Pakistan must address three immediate challenges for way forward. The first is technical: establishing clear and enforceable definitions for VAs and VASPs in domestic law that harmonize with FATF's interpretive note. The second is regulatory: building a risk-based framework that includes licensing requirements, identifies legal and natural persons operating VASPs, and implements the Travel Rule with enforceable supervision. The third is institutional: enhancing the capacity of regulators, law enforcement, and financial intelligence units to monitor, investigate, and prosecute crimes involving virtual assets. Pakistan should also prioritize public-private partnerships with blockchain analytics firms, adopt cross-border cooperation protocols, and develop public registries for licensed VASPs. FATF's support for technical assistance, as expressed in its engagement with VACG and Global Network, offers a valuable window for Pakistan to request targeted help in closing compliance gaps. The government's decision to legalize cryptocurrency is timely and strategically aligned with FATF's global roadmap. However, without a technically sound and enforceable regulatory regime grounded in FATF's Recommendation 15, Pakistan risks falling short of global compliance standards. The country must now move swiftly to codify regulations, build institutional capacity, and participate in the international supervisory ecosystem for virtual assets. This will not only ensure FATF compliance but also position Pakistan as a credible and secure player in the global digital economy. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Forbes
26-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Pakistan's Bitcoin Gambit Signals Shift Away From Dollar Dominance
President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on ... More January 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump signed a range of executive orders pertaining to issues including crypto currency, Artificial Intelligence, and clemency for anti-abortion activists. (Photo by) A new coalition of nations seeking to challenge dollar hegemony has gotten an unlikely ally: Pakistan. At Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, the South Asian country unveiled its national Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, following America's lead but revealing a more ambitious vision. "We're not just adopting cryptocurrency—we're reimagining what's possible for a developing economy in the digital age," declared Bilal Bin Saqib, head of Pakistan's Crypto Council. Behind this diplomatic messaging lies a strategy shared by nations seeking to leverage digital assets for economic independence from Western-dominated financial systems. President Trump's March 2025 Executive Order marked a pivotal shift in how major powers view digital assets. The order directed the Treasury to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, consolidating approximately 200,000 BTC from government seizures into what officials dubbed a "digital Fort Knox." This move treats cryptocurrency as a strategic national asset, similar to gold or oil reserves. This move, part of Trump's vision to make America "the crypto capital of the world," has catalyzed a global reassessment of digital assets' role in national sovereignty. While Pakistan's Crypto Council, established in February 2025, publicly aligns with U.S. policy, its implementation reveals broader ambitions. "Our ideal scenario," explains Saqib, "is converting our excess electricity into digital assets that generate foreign reserves." This strategy addresses multiple strategic objectives: monetizing stranded energy assets, reducing dependence on IMF funding, and creating financial leverage outside traditional banking systems that have historically constrained developing economies. Converting Infrastructure into Strategic Assets Pakistan's approach seeks to transform an economic burden into a geopolitical asset. The country's power sector faces what experts call a "capacity payment conundrum,' particularly affecting coal-fired plants built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). These plants operate at just 15% capacity while Pakistan pays nearly Rs 980 billion annually to IPPs alone in capacity charges. By redirecting 2,000 megawatts to Bitcoin mining, Pakistan aims to generate digital reserves and monetize previously idle energy assets. This strategy creates an intriguing geopolitical paradox that exemplifies the shifting power dynamics in international finance. Chinese-built CPEC infrastructure will be used to mine Bitcoin—an asset Beijing has banned domestically—while potentially helping Pakistan reduce its dependence on both Chinese loans and Western financial institutions. The arrangement suggests the emergence of a new model for developing nations. Use resources from one major power to build financial independence from all of them. But challenging the status quo will not be easy. The International Monetary Fund, which extended a much-needed financial lifeline to Pakistan, warned about the systemic risks of nations building independent digital reserves. During May 2025 debt negotiations, the Fund also questioned potential violations of Extended Fund Facility conditions. This confrontation exposes a fundamental shift. Digital assets are becoming tools for nations to bypass traditional financial gatekeepers, potentially fracturing the post-war monetary consensus that has maintained Western financial Herro, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, from second left, Zach Witkoff, co-founder of ... More World Liberty Financial, Zach Folkman, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, and Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president of development and acquisitions for Trump Organization Inc., on screen, during the DC Blockchain Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg The Trump Factor Ironically, this potential challenge to Western financial dominance finds an unlikely ally in former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration's pro-crypto policies seems to have provided diplomatic cover for nations seeking financial alternatives. The Trump Organization-backed World Liberty Financial's partnership marks a crucial evolution in Pakistan's crypto transformation. The letter of intent aims to accelerate blockchain innovation and stablecoin adoption across Pakistan. Their cooperation envisions "regulatory sandboxes" for testing blockchain financial products and exploring the tokenization of real-world assets like real estate and commodities. This framework could create new models for developing nations to access global capital markets while bypassing traditional financial intermediaries. Pakistan's initiative emerges amid a growing constellation of nations seeking financial alternatives to dollar dominance. El Salvador's 2021 adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender marked an early challenge to dollar hegemony. Now, Russian lawmakers explore Bitcoin reserves as sanctions protection, while Gulf Cooperation Council nations quietly build mining infrastructure to accumulate their own digital reserves. A late-2024 report reveals that 13 countries already hold Bitcoin in their national accounts, suggesting a quiet but significant shift in how nations approach monetary sovereignty. Pakistan's experiment, if successful, could fundamentally reshape how developing nations approach economic sovereignty. While significant challenges remain—from grid stability to Bitcoin's price volatility—the strategic implications transcend these technical hurdles. The initiative tests whether nations can transform physical infrastructure into digital power, potentially offering a new pathway to economic independence for energy-rich developing countries. More profoundly, Pakistan's strategy challenges core assumptions about global financial power. By converting excess energy directly into digital assets, nations could potentially bypass traditional financial intermediaries entirely. This approach does not just seek alternatives to dollar dependence—it reimagines the very nature of national reserves and economic sovereignty. The outcome of Pakistan's Bitcoin gambit could influence the future of international finance far beyond its borders. As nations increasingly seek independence from Western-dominated financial systems, Pakistan's model offers a glimpse of an emerging reality: one where digital assets and physical infrastructure become tools for challenging traditional financial hierarchies. Whether this leads to a more fragmented or more equitable global financial system remains to be seen, but the implications for dollar hegemony are clear—the rules of international finance are being rewritten, one megawatt at a time.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. Senate Passes GENIUS Act to Regulate Stablecoins, Marking Crypto Industry Win
The overwhelming bipartisan passage of the U.S. Senate's stablecoin bill, with a 68-30 final vote that saw a huge surge of Democrats joining their Republican counterparts on Tuesday, sets a new high-water mark of crypto policy efforts in the U.S. as the legislation now heads to the House of Representatives. The major Democratic backing for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025 (GENIUS) Act helps give it momentum as it lands in the other chamber, where House lawmakers can either vote on it as written or pursue changes that will require a final round in the Senate before it can head to President Donald Trump's desk. As written, the bill would set up guardrails around the approval and supervision of U.S. issuers of stablecoins, the dollar-based tokens such as the ones backed by Circle, Ripple and Tether. Firms making these digital assets available to U.S. users would have to meet stringent reserve demands, transparency requirements, money-laundering compliance and regulatory supervision that's also likely to include new capital rules. Ji Kim, the Acting CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, called it a "historic step forward for the digital asset industry," in a prepared statement shared ahead of the vote "This is a win for the U.S., a win for innovation and a monumental step towards appropriate regulation for digital assets in the United States," said Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and chief legal officer of the DeFi Education Fund, in a similar statement. While it has failed to convince some of the most vocal Democratic critics such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, who say it allows loopholes for foreign tokens such as Tether's USDT, doesn't deal with conflicts presented by the personal crypto involvement of President Trump and clears a path for technology giants such as Amazon to issue their own coins, the bill's backers in her party have essentially argued that doing nothing isn't an option. "With this bill, the United States is one step closer to becoming the global leader in crypto," said Senator Bill Hagerty, the Tennessee Republican who sponsored the bill, as the Senate prepared to vote on Tuesday. "The value of stablecoins will be pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed one-to-one by cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. This will provide certainty and confidence for more wide-scale adoption of this transformational technology.' While this is the first significant crypto bill to clear the Senate, it's also the first time a stablecoin bill has passed either chamber, despite years of negotiation in the House Financial Services Committee that managed to produce other major crypto legislation in the previous congressional session. The destiny of the GENIUS Act is also tied closely to the House's own Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, the more sweeping crypto bill that would establish the legal footing of the wider U.S. crypto markets. The stablecoin effort is slightly ahead of the bigger task of the market structure bill, but the industry and their lawmaker allies argue that they're inextricably connected and need to become law together. So far, the Clarity Act has been cleared by the relevant House committees and awaits floor action. The crypto industry's lobbyists turn now to the House on both those issues. A new report on Tuesday from TRM Labs says that stablecoins represent more than 60% of current crypto transactions, and more than 90% of those coins are pegged to the U.S. dollar — dominated by USDC and USDT. "Although TRM estimates that 99% of stablecoin activity is licit, their speed, scale, and liquidity have made them appealing for illicit uses, including ransomware payments, fraud, and terrorist financing," the analytical organization noted. Illicit finance represents one of the major complaints of critics in in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Crypto Insight
06-06-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
RWA token market grows 260% in 2025 as firms embrace regulating crypto
The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) surged in the first half of 2025 as increased regulatory clarity fueled broader adoption of blockchain-based financial products. Real-world asset tokenization refers to financial and other tangible assets minted on the immutable blockchain ledger, increasing investor accessibility and trading opportunities for these assets. The RWA market surged more than 260% during the first half of 2025, surpassing $23 billion in total valuation. It was $8.6 billion at the beginning of the year, according to a Binance Research report shared with Cointelegraph. Tokenized private credit led the RWA market boom, accounting for about 58% of the market share, followed by tokenized US Treasury debt, which accounted for 34%. 'As regulatory frameworks become clearer, the sector is poised for continued growth and increased participation from major industry players,' the report said. RWAs have no dedicated regulatory framework and are considered securities by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the sector still benefits from regulatory developments in the broader crypto space. On May 29, the SEC issued new guidance on cryptocurrency staking, a development that was seen as a step toward 'more sensible regulation,' marking a significant win for the industry, Alison Mangiero, head of staking policy at the Crypto Council for Innovation, told Cointelegraph. The industry is awaiting a full Senate vote on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which aims to set clear rules for stablecoin collateralization. Other analysts pointed to Bitcoin's temporary price consolidations as the main driver for the RWA market's growth, as a safer investment option with a predictable yield. Corporate FOMO fuels Bitcoin balance sheets A renewed corporate 'FOMO,' short for fear of missing out, is inspiring increasingly more companies to adopt Bitcoin on their balance sheets. At least 124 public companies are now holding Bitcoin as part of their corporate treasury, according to data from While the summer may bring a slowdown in overall crypto market activity, broader macro conditions and regulatory developments will largely dictate the pace of corporate Bitcoin adoption, a Binance Research spokesperson told Cointelegraph, adding: 'Corporate BTC adoption is driven by long-term balance sheet strategy, treasury diversification and capital-raising activity.' Long-term investment perspectives will likely continue driving Bitcoin's corporate adoption, rather than 'short-term liquidity or seasonal market dynamics,' the researchers added. Source:
