Pakistan’s demography positions the country as a major catalyst for the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC), allowing it to “jump” developed countries, according to Bilal Bin Saqib, Minister of Pakistan of Crypto and Blockchain.
“A change in global policy has occurred not only in Pakistan, but worldwide,” Bin Saqib told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. The government of Pakistan moved to regulate the crypto in November 2024.
The country has 40 million cryptographic portfolios and is one of the “first five” countries in terms of crypto adoption, which the minister attributed to the young demography of Pakistan. He said to Cintelegraph:
“The median age of Pakistan is 20 years. We have 250 million people and 70% under 30. If the youth of Pakistan should be a country, it would be the ninth or tenth country most populated on earth. ”
“Emerging markets are what will go beyond the adoption of these new technologies,” said the minister, with smaller countries more likely to adopt Bitcoin because of their agile size, allowing them to develop developed in advance. “It is easier to move a boat at speed than the Titanic,” added Bin Saqib.
In relation: Pakistan launches the corps of regulation of cryptography for the digital asset sector
Collaborative partnership with El Salvador for the development of Bitcoin
Pakistan and Salvador signed a letter of intent in July to share education and knowledge on bitcoin, digital asset infrastructure and energy development for the exploitation of cryptography, the Minister said.
“Cooperation is mainly based on how emerging economies are both in the IMF program can take advantage of technology and other financial instruments for national growth,” he told Cintelegraph.
The National Crypt for Pakistan Consulting Council and other regulatory organizations are looking for comments on a full regulatory framework for digital assets, granting licenses for cryptography exchanges, the development of a strategic bitcoin reserve, the launch of a stablecoin and the mining of Bitcoin using excess energy, said the Minister.
Mine bitcoin with excessive and dripping energy sources
“Pakistan has a very interesting problem. We have an excess of electricity, for which we pay for capacity costs,” the minister told Cointelegraph.
He said that the country had up to 10,000 megawatts (MW) of excessive energy, which is a “passive” due to the costs of understanding electricity.
Bin SAQIB said the country allocates 2,000 MW to Bitcoin and AI data centers. The government also explores the potential to exploit the BTC with the energy of methane runoff and other excess or stranded electricity sources, he added.
Review: Pakistan will deploy the Bitcoin reserve in Defi for the yield, explains Bilal Bin Saqib
