Pakistan is setting up a 'government-lead' strategic Bitcoin reserve, Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal Bin Saqib says

Pakistan is setting up a "government-led" strategic Bitcoin reserve, Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal Bin Saqib said on Wednesday at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"This wallet, the national bitcoin wallet, is not for speculation or hype," Bin Saqib said on stage. "We will be holding these Bitcoins and we will never, ever sell them."

It is unclear how many Bitcoins the country intends to hold, and whether these assets will be purchased or acquired through other means. Early this week, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bin Saqib as his special assistant on blockchain and crypto.

In addition to the Bitcoin reserve, Bin Saqib noted the country intends to invest 2,000 megawatts to mine Bitcoin and power AI data centers. It will also look to study the tokenization of its “illiquid assets” as well as the use of blockchain technology for "government efficiency."

In mid-May, Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance spun up the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority to regulate the country’s crypto industry. This came shortly after the Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial organization signed a "letter of intent" with the Pakistan Crypto Council to accelerate blockchain adoption in the country.

According to Bin Saqib, the plan was inspired by recent moves in the U.S. to embrace crypto, including President Trump’s executive order to establish a national Bitcoin reserve. "We want to thank the United States of America again, for we are getting inspired from them," Bin Saqib said.

The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve holds approximately 200,000 Bitcoins seized through criminal and civil forfeiture proceedings. The U.S. and China are the two largest government Bitcoin holders.

In September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The country has stockpiled approximately $664.72 million worth of BTC.