The Pakistani government has announced a plan to establish the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which some analysts see as an attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration. © Reuters
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has unveiled a plan to establish a national crypto reserve, making the country an early adopter of digital currencies as a national asset.
However, the move faces a mounting backlash, with critics expressing concerns about a possible erosion of national wealth. The quickly taken decision is also seen as way to garner the favor of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The plan to launch a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was unveiled by Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s minister for blockchain and crypto, during the Bitcoin Vegas 2025 event in Las Vegas last week. It was followed by another statement from the Pakistan Crypto Council, a body created to regulate and promote cryptocurrency. The council announced that it will form technical committees to draft laws and propose a robust framework for digital assets in Pakistan.
The government has allocated 2,000 megawatts of electricity for the initiative, which is sufficient to power around 1.5 million homes in Pakistan.
But the country’s pivot toward cryptocurrency has already drawn criticism. Omer Azhar, a London-based financial analyst, said Pakistan’s decision to launch the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve appears premature and lacks transparency. “It seems more performative than strategic, driven by individual ambition rather than national consensus,” he told Nikkei Asia.
“What is even more problematic is that this initiative was announced without any broader public or institutional consultation,” said Nighat Dad, executive director of the Pakistan-based Digital Rights Foundation. “Crypto is not inherently the problem, poor or nonexistent governance and lack of preparedness are,” she told Nikkei.
The speculative nature of digital assets is also seen as a risk. “The valuation of such reserves would be subject to market volatility, and no global central bank currently recognizes crypto holdings as sovereign reserve assets in their balance sheets,” said Ikram ul Haq, who runs a legal and tax consultancy.
Critics of Pakistan’s plan to establish a cryptocurrency reserve say the high volatility of virtual currencies could erode the value of national assets. © ReutersAhsan Hamid Durrani, executive director of the Islamabad-based Policy Research Center, agrees. “Crypto markets are highly volatile and unregulated, making them unsuitable for the stability-focused mandate of foreign exchange reserves. Any sharp decline in value could erode national reserves overnight,” he told Nikkei. “Allocating reserves to such assets without a strong regulatory and technical foundation would be fiscally irresponsible.”
Pakistan is not the first country to announce plans to establish a crypto reserve. El Salvador went first, followed by Bhutan, the U.S., the U.K., China and Ukraine, although all these countries list their crypto reserves separately from central banks’ balance sheets, apart from El Salvador, which has included crypto in its foreign exchange reserves.
According to Azhar, El Salvador and Bhutan adopted structured, state-led crypto strategies with clear legislative backing and central bank involvement. Pakistan’s approach so far appears ad hoc and informal.
“In Pakistan’s case, the initiative is being driven primarily by private actors and special interest groups with limited regulatory oversight or strategic coherence,” Azhar added. “Rather than a national policy, it resembles a speculative push.”
These concerns spring partly from the timing of the announcement, leading to speculation that Islamabad is making use of the crypto plan, or the announcement of the plan, to strengthen ties with President Trump.
In April, Zach Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by Trump, visited Pakistan and signed a letter of intent with the Pakistan Crypto Council to advance cryptocurrency applications and boost blockchain adoption in the country.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends the Bitcoin 2024 event as a presidential candidate in Nashville, Tennessee, in July 2024. © ReutersOn Wednesday, Saqib, the crypto minister, also met Bo Hines, executive director of President Trump’s Council on Digital Assets, at the White House to discuss strategic alignment on digital assets, Bitcoin integration and the future of decentralized financial infrastructure.
Durrani said Trump has publicly expressed support for cryptocurrency and holds personal investments in it. “Pakistan’s move may very well be a calculated attempt to align with Washington’s evolving posture on digital assets, especially at a time when global alliances are increasingly shaped by tech and finance,” he said.
Pakistan is also set to begin trade talks with the Trump administration this week to reduce the 29% tariff on its exports that was announced by his government in April and suspended until July 9.
Azhar noted that Pakistan’s partnership with World Liberty Financial appears to be an effort to establish an informal channel to Donald Trump through Zach Witkoff. “This suggests a desire to engage with U.S. conservative circles after Trump’s return to power.”
“However, it remains unclear how much actual influence Witkoff or World Liberty Financial wields in shaping American foreign policy, making the strategic payoff of this alignment uncertain,” he said.
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei