In a landmark announcement on May 28, a crypto advisor to Pakistan revealed that the government is planning to launch a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Pakistan’s move reflects the wider trend of nation-states embracing pro-crypto policies following the regulatory shift in Washington, DC under the President Donald Trump administration. Pakistan Follows The US In Embracing Bitcoin Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Bilal Bin Saqib, the newly appointed special assistant to the prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, said that Pakistan’s government is “setting up its own Bitcoin strategic reserve.” “Today is a very historic day. Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them,” the crypto-centric minister of state opined. In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for the creation of a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve and a separate digital assets stockpile. Trump’s nascent plan for a Bitcoin reserve will — at least at first — be made up of the U.S. government’s BTC stash from criminal and civil forfeitures, estimated to hover around 198,000 coins. While the US leads in holdings, other countries like Bhutan , El Salvador , and North Korea are also quietly building their Bitcoin reserves. Similar to the US’s Bitcoin strategic reserve, Bin Saquib said that the Pakistani government would not sell its BTC. “This wallet, the national bitcoin wallet, is not for speculation or hype. We will be holding these bitcoins and we will never, ever sell them,” Bin Saqib postulated. From Crypto Ban To Bitcoin Mining Boom In addition to establishing a strategic reserve, Bin Saqiib disclosed that the Pakistan government has allocated 2,000 megawatts of excess electricity for Bitcoin mining and high-performance AI data centers. “We want to welcome all miners to come to Pakistan, all the infrastructure players to come to Pakistan and build with us,” Bin Saqib said. The announcement marks a sharp reversal from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on cryptocurrencies, where it sought to ban all cryptocurrency services operating in the country and never legalize crypto trading. The government first contemplated the formation of a “National Crypto Council” in February 2025 to oversee the creation of a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and to draw in foreign investment. The Pakistan Crypto Council in April tapped Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao as a Strategic Advisor amid its push to accelerate its digital finance transformation.
