2 years ago
259 Pakistani head of State, Arif Alvi, now wants more enhanced crypto education in Pakistan. Alvi insists on more training in emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cyber security.
In a January 17 special meeting with blockchain technology experts, Alvi called for collaborative training of enhanced crypto education in the country. Pakistan’s head of state maintained that the nation’s talent pool must prepare to meet the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including the utilization of blockchain technology in the public and private sectors.
According to Alvi, blockchain technology can be used as a government tool to track transactions, reduce corruption and increase transparency. Among the featured experts in the blockchain technology panel was Jimmy Nguyen, a renowned Bitcoin SV advocate and founding president of the Bitcoin Association.
The meeting appeared short before Pakistan President confirmed appointing Noor Muhammad Dummar as the new senior minister of finance for Balochistan province.
Interestingly, federal ministries of finance across all provinces have not imposed regulations or blanket bans of cryptos in the country. However, the State Bank of Pakistan has repeatedly argued that digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) are illegal and cannot be used for trading.
In the past few years, crypto adoption in Pakistan has increasingly surged. Based on information acquired from Chainalysis, a crypto data analytics firm, Pakistan had the third-highest rate of crypto adoption behind Vietnam and India in October 2021. At the time, Pakistan had transferred more than $10 million, representing 28% of transactions.
In the same contest, the monetary authority of Pakistan confirmed that it was exploring the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would compete with other digital assets in the cryptocurrency space.
Nevertheless, in contrast with President Alvi, some government officials within Pakistan are somewhat unhappy with the crypto industry. A few of them believe that the crypto industry is associated with fraud, recanting a recent multi-million dollar crypto scam that left investors losing over $100 million in their Binance wallets.
However, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) strongly condemned the act and vowed to conduct a thorough investigation. In the meantime, PTA has blocked websites speculated to have participated in the scam to deter more fraud and money laundering in the country.
