Pakistanis have $20B in crypto assets, says head of local association

He called for the government to set up a Bitcoin policy, arguing that India already had some regulations in place.

Nasir Hayat Magoon, The President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), has stated that Pakistani citizens have a combined crypto assets value of $20 billion.

During a news conference, the FPCCI president said that Pakistanis’ digital currency valuations are based on the chamber’s research paper, as per a local report. He urged the government to implement a cryptocurrency policy, pointing out that India has implemented some restrictions in this field, the report adds.

In October, a study published by Chainalysis revealed that Pakistan had experienced a tremendous increase in cryptocurrency adoption during the previous year. The 2021 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index ranked Pakistan the third highest in terms of index score behind Vietnam and India. The ranking is based on three metrics: on-chain crypto value transmitted, on-chain retail value transferred, and peer-to-peer exchange trade volume.

Related: New survey reveals 83% of millennial millionaires now own crypto

On October 20, 2021, Pakistan’s Sindh Province’s highest judicial body urged the federal government to provide modalities for cryptocurrency regulation. The High Court of Sindh (SHC) ordered government bodies such as the Ministry of Information Technology and Law to collaborate with regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the central bank to create crypto rules within three months.

The SECP has been considering crypto legislation since November 2020, as reported by Cointelegraph. Apart from cryptocurrency regulation, the governor of Pakistan’s State Bank of Pakistan, Reza Baqir, stated that the bank analyzes the possibilities of a central bank digital currency.