What used to take days, multiple intermediaries and high fees is now being rebuilt in real time. Global payments (the invisible plumbing of the world economy) are undergoing their biggest shift since the invention of SWIFT in the 1970s.
This time, the drivers are not banks or central clearinghouses, but technology: blockchain, stablecoins and digital settlement systems that move money at the speed of the internet.
Not long ago, Washington maintained a hostile posture toward digital assets. The Biden administration’s early reliance on enforcement actions drove talent and capital abroad to jurisdictions like Japan, the European Union, Singapore and the UAE, where progressive regulatory frameworks had already nurtured the innovation America was suppressing. But the costs of this approach soon became clear, and Washington recalibrated.
In its self-proclaimed ‘Crypto Week’, Congress advanced a trilogy of landmark bills – the GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. On July 18, 2025, the GENIUS Act was signed into law, marking the first major piece of federal crypto legislation in American history.
This new law gives dollar-backed stablecoins a federal framework and the rules are straightforward: every coin must be backed 1:1 with cash or treasuries, subject to independent audits, and issued only by licensed entities. With that, the US has positioned itself at the front of the next era of global payments
Although the GENIUS Act is a US regulation, its ripple effects are already being felt across the globe. Financial institutions worldwide now face competitive pressure to adapt, as the speed and efficiency unlocked by these rails make legacy systems look increasingly outdated.
Institutional adoption is following quickly, with major players from JPMorgan to Amazon already integrating stablecoin rails into their infrastructure. The innovation is not limited to faster settlements; it is catalysing entirely new business models in trade finance, e-commerce and capital markets.
Tokenised payment systems will challenge credit cards for online transactions, cross-border remittances that once took days will settle within seconds, and tokenised securities promise near-instant clearing in equity and debt markets. Europe, already experimenting with the digital euro, may find itself compelled to accelerate to preserve relevance, while emerging economies risk being pulled into alignment with the US framework to maintain interoperability with the world’s largest financial system.
Payments are the bloodstream of trade, investment and remittances in any economy. Pakistan’s position in the new world order of global payments will therefore be determined by how quickly and decisively it adapts to the evolving regulatory landscape.
The Virtual Assets Ordinance, 2025 is an important milestone, but the framework remains limited to licensing and compliance; it does not yet address the more critical issue of payments themselves. Remittances alone account for over $30 billion annually, making Pakistan one of the world’s largest recipients. If these flows begin to shift onto faster and cheaper stablecoin rails, particularly dollar-backed stablecoins, they could bypass the domestic financial system entirely, accelerating dollarisation and eroding monetary sovereignty. Unless Pakistan integrates digital settlement into its financial architecture with urgency, it risks being locked out of the new global payments infrastructure.
The future of money is unfolding in real time. Stablecoins, tokenised assets and instant settlement rails are rewriting the foundations of global commerce, and countries that fail to adapt will simply be written out of the story.
Pakistan enters this race with powerful tailwinds: 65 per cent of its population is under the age of 30, it ranks ninth globally in crypto adoption with nearly 20 million users (even before regulatory clearance) and a diaspora of more than 10 million Pakistanis sends billions home each year. Add to this a fast-growing IT and freelance sector generating over $4 billion in annual exports, and the country has the momentum to accelerate.
But momentum means little without velocity. The world is moving at internet speed. Pakistan cannot afford to move at a bureaucratic pace. Harnessed well, these tailwinds could propel Pakistan into the digital payments’ future; ignored, they will simply pass us by.
The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and Strategic Legal Counsel at HP | FKM. She can be reached at: [email protected]
