KARACHI: Minister of State and Chairperson of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib called on emerging economies to play a greater role in shaping the regulatory framework for digital assets.
Speaking at the Point Zero Forum 2026 in Zurich, a gathering of central bankers, regulators and financial industry leaders, Bin Saqib said that the rapid evolution of tokenised finance requires countries to actively participate in setting global standards rather than adopting systems developed elsewhere.
He added that the growing digitisation of money is reshaping the global financial system and challenging traditional concepts of national currencies and payment infrastructure.
“Money has become software, and software does not respect borders,” he told delegates. “We are used to thinking of money as something a state simply has. A flag, a border, a currency. That era is ending.”
Bilal was speaking on a panel titled ‘Unchaining Tokenized Money: Stablecoins, CBDCs, and the Race for Scale’, alongside South African Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Mampho Modise. The discussion focused on the adoption of tokenised forms of money, barriers to wider use and the interoperability of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins and other tokenised financial systems.
He said countries with growing digital-asset markets should focus on developing regulatory frameworks that provide oversight while allowing innovation to continue.
“Pakistan is approaching digital assets with a Pakistan-first strategy,” Bilal said. “Our position is that emerging economies should help shape the rules of tokenised finance, not simply inherit infrastructure built elsewhere.”
On the sidelines of the forum, he participated in closed-door discussions with central bankers, regulators and financial-sector representatives from Asia, Europe and the Gulf region on issues including tokenised payments, cross-border financial systems and monetary sovereignty.
Pakistan has emerged as one of the world’s largest markets for digital-asset adoption. According to the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index published by Chainalysis, the country ranked third globally, behind India and the US, for grassroots crypto adoption. Analysts have linked adoption to factors including a large youth population, significant remittance inflows and growing use of digital financial services.
The Point Zero Forum, co-organised by the Global Finance and Technology Network and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for International Finance, was held in Zurich from June 23 to 25. The event brought together more than 2,000 policymakers, regulators, central bankers and industry executives to discuss developments in financial technology and regulation.
