ZURICH: Chairman Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib says Pakistan is approaching digital assets with a Pakistan-first strategy to help shape the rules of digital finance.
Addressing the Point Zero Forum 2026 in Zurich, Switzerland, he said the rules governing money are being rewritten and Pakistan will help write them.
He said Pakistan now ranks third in the world for grassroots crypto adoption on the 2025 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index, driven by a young and one of the world’s largest freelancer economies.
The Point Zero Forum is the annual policy-technology gathering co-organised by the Global Finance and Technology Network and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for International Finance.
The three-day forum themed ‘A financial system rewired: trust, compliance and protocols in a shifting world’ convened over 2,000 bankers, regulators, policymakers, and industry leaders.
Digital assets race beyond borders
He said geographical borders could not stop this transformation, adding that the issue was no longer whether digital assets should be permitted but who would lead their development.
Bilal Bin Saqib said emerging economies must frame the rules governing their own financial future. Bilal Bin Saqib added that Pakistan had reached third place in the global cryptocurrency adoption ranking and was now among the world’s major digital asset markets.
He said Pakistan had adopted digital assets at an early stage and was now preparing a comprehensive regulatory framework to enable the country to play an active role in the reshaping of the global financial system.
