Pakistan’s Ongoing Crypto ‘Revolution’ is No Way Near Where it Should Be

Pakistan’s decision to allocate 2,000 megawatts of electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers lacks common sense. It basically lacks regulation. Cryptocurrencies aren’t recognized in Pakistan as any instrument, yet we’re allocating electricity for Bitcoin mining and setting up councils without approval from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). SBP has not recognized Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency as legal tender. There are no functioning regulations around virtual assets. The promised Pakistan Digital Assets Authority Bill is also absent, and until it is approved, Pakistan’s ongoing crypto revolution cannot be taken seriously. So what exactly are we supporting here? Mining what? Under whose oversight? Using what policy framework? Also, the recently formed Pakistan Crypto Council has yet to define the legal framework for digital assets in the country. Bitcoin mining is a capital-intensive model for extracting value. Countries with abundant, cheap energy have already run the numbers and walked away. The infrastructure required is expensive, hardware depreciates rapidly, and the economics are built on market timing and speculation. If we are so eager to get into mining, why not invest in existing operations that are already profitable and proven? I fear that most of the people involved in pushing this plan have no actual understanding of how the crypto space functions in 2025. From all the press releases since March, every announcement feels like recycled talking points from the last bull cycle, pitched to officials who likely do not know how to set up a digital wallet. Anyone unfamiliar with basic crypto operations should not be allowed within a mile of policy development. The mining angle is also a bit unsupervised. The blockchain space has moved on. Major players today are not focused on mining but on building ecosystems, developer tooling, and real-world utility. We need to locate places where serious work is happening. So far, the only good thing that has happened for crypto in Pakistan was Binance founder Changpeng Zhao joining the Pakistan Crypto Council as an advisor last month. We’ve seen this movie before. The market turns, prices drop, and suddenly all the supposed profits vanish. Mines closed. Equipment gathers dust. The reality is that if Bitcoin heads back to $40,000 or below, these new projects will collapse under their own weight, just like they did in Kazakhstan, Iran, and even parts of the US a few years ago. I do apologize for being so critical. The numbers look good, but there is no substance underneath. Until Pakistan has a regulatory regime, technical competence, and a basic grasp of what the crypto industry needs, this entire effort is a waste of time and money. The government needs to address these questions and move forward, or quit it: The formation of the Pakistan Crypto Council is a positive step towards integrating digital assets into Pakistan’s financial system, but without SBP approval, everything is meaningless. The amendments to the SBP Act have yet to receive cabinet approval. Invert the iceberg!