Bilal Bin Saqib, Pakistan's Minister of State for Crypto and Blockchain, has continued to promote Bitcoin and digital assets as pillars of the country's broader financial strategy during a series of engagements in New York.

Speaking at a United Nations event held during the 81st General Assembly, Saqib presented blockchain, tokenization, and digital finance as tools that could expand financial inclusion and broaden access to global markets. The UN program included a dedicated session on blockchain and tokenized assets, where Saqib took part as chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

Pakistan's Bitcoin Reserve Strategy

Saqib's advocacy for a strategic Bitcoin reserve extends a policy initiative Pakistan announced in 2025. The government at the time unveiled a state-controlled Bitcoin reserve, stating that digital assets held in state custody would be kept as a sovereign reserve rather than used for short-term speculation.

The reserve plan is part of a broader push to establish Pakistan as a hub for digital assets and blockchain technology. Authorities have also discussed directing surplus electricity toward Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence data centers.

The proposal situates Pakistan within a wider international conversation over state Bitcoin holdings, a debate that has included the United States' establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve in 2025 and El Salvador's adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender in 2021. For emerging economies, such plans raise practical questions around custody, funding, and energy use.

Still, the recent UN discussions centered more broadly on digital infrastructure and regulation, and did not amount to a formal United Nations endorsement of Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Global Digital Finance Push

Saqib has increasingly leveraged international forums to argue that emerging economies should help shape digital-asset rules rather than simply adopting frameworks designed elsewhere. His recent UN appearances have stressed financial inclusion, tokenization, and regulatory cooperation. His dual roles — promoting digital assets abroad while chairing the country's virtual-asset regulator — place both the promotional agenda and oversight of the sector within the same institutional remit.

At home, Pakistan has moved to build a formal regulatory framework for virtual assets through its Virtual Assets Act 2026 and the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. The strategy represents a marked departure from the country's earlier restrictive stance on cryptocurrencies, with officials now treating regulated digital assets as a potential element of Pakistan's financial and technology infrastructure. What remains to be seen is how the framework operates in practice, including the licensing and supervision rules the authority issues and whether the state reserve is accompanied by disclosed custody and holdings details.

For Bitcoin, the development adds yet another sovereign-level reserve proposal to an expanding international debate over whether governments should hold the cryptocurrency within their national financial strategies.