Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib announced that Pakistan is set to launch its first “stablecoin” as part of its drive to make virtual assets a part of the economy.
The PVARA is an autonomous federal body governed by a multi-stakeholder board including the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue. Its mandate is to curb illicit finance, protect consumers and unlock opportunities in fintech, remittances and tokenised assets, while fostering Shariah-compliant innovation through regulatory sandboxes.
A stablecoin, according to Bloomberg, is a digital token whose value is intrinsically linked to a physical currency, such as the US dollar, making it more stable than other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Speaking at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, the crypto czar said that Pakistan will “definitely launch” a stablecoin, adding that the country is working on both that and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
“I think it is a great way to collateralise the government debt,” Saqib said. “We want to be at the forefront of this financial digital innovation that is happening. Why should we be at the tail-end of it when we have the muscle and the adoption?”
