OPINION: The age of digital currencies—I
In this article, I emphasize on the need for Pakistan to fast track the adoption of digital currencies. While the crypto currencies like Bitcoin dominate the headlines, it is the global evolution of US dollar backed Stable Coins and Central Bank Digital Currencies where the biggest opportunities lie.I highlight areas where adoption of digital currencies will benefit the economy, including financial inclusion for the marginalized communities and for lower cost cross border transactions including remittances.The emergence of crypto currencies stems from demand for a decentralized and transparent digital currency, largely fueled by skepticism toward traditional financial institutions following the 2008 global financial crisis. Another watershed moment arrived with the 2022 US sanctions on Russia.These sanctions demonstrated the capability of the US to essentially de-platform a nation from the global financial grid. For many global powers, this was a wake-up call; it shifted the narrative from a search for transparency to a strategic necessity for an alternate, censorship-resistant system.At the same time, public discourse often conflates crypto currencies with speculation alone, overlooking the far broader functional spectrum of digital assets. Stable-coins, when properly regulated, are not designed for volatility-driven gains, but for efficiency, interoperability, and trust in digital settlement.As of 2025, the global crypto currency market capitalization was already estimated at USD 2.76 trillion, underscoring the sheer financial significance this asset class now holds in the modern economy.Since President Trump took office, the USA has emerged at the forefront of crypto currency innovation, with new progressive regulatory frameworks and thriving block-chain ecosystems.The US GENIUS Act 2025 is a landmark piece of federal legislation signed into law that establishes the first comprehensive regulatory framework for stable-coins in the United States.Furthermore, US-issued stable-coins like USDT (Tether) and USDC (USD Coin) currently command approximately 90 percent of the stable-coin market share. The US is keen on ensuring their securities are a ‘must-have’ for global investors, aiming to maintain the dollar’s dominance without the economic burden of a significant trade deficit.Crucially, this regulatory pivot is not an abandonment of dollar dominance, but its modernization. Through the GENIUS Act, the United States has deliberately anchored the rapidly expanding stable-coin ecosystem to the US dollar itself—ensuring that as global commerce increasingly migrates toward tokenized and blockchain-based settlement, the unit of account, store of value, and settlement anchor remains USD-linked.In effect, the Act transforms stable-coins into a digital extension of the dollar’s international role, allowing the US to preserve monetary influence even as financial rails evolve beyond traditional correspondent banking.Unlike volatile crypto currencies, stable-coins are increasingly being deployed as programmable payment instruments across a wide range of real-economy use cases.These include low-cost cross-border remittances, real-time trade settlement, supply-chain finance, tokenized deposits, payroll disbursements, aid distribution, and the settlement layer for tokenized real-world assets. Focusing solely on price movements; therefore, misses the structural shift underway: stable-coins are evolving into the digital infrastructure of global commerce.Other economies are exploring their own digital currency initiatives, positioning the global landscape for significant transformation. The shift toward Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and locally-issued stable-coins is now a serious strategic consideration for many nations, with an estimated 70 countries already running pilots in the CBDC space.The two most significant pilot programmes currently underway are in China and India. The former is at an advanced stage, with its Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), or e-CNY, already facilitating large-scale transactions. The programme has seen an immense volume, with over 14 trillion yuan in transactions. India is also testing its own CBDC, issued in two distinct forms, namely Retail and Wholesale. Notable strides are also being made in financial hubs across Asia, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan.In Pakistan, a significant push for a CBDC lies in its nature as sovereign digital cash; unlike bank deposits or e-wallets, which are private claims subject to commercial bank risk, a CBDC is a direct liability of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), offering a significant level of safety.Another gap the CBDC aims to address is offline accessibility. While platforms such as Raast require an internet connection and a bank account, CBDCs are being designed to support offline peer-to-peer transactions, vital for Pakistan’s rural population and low-connectivity areas.The use of digital assets is rapidly expanding through the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), moving far beyond traditional crypto currencies. Tokenization converts the rights to a physical or digital asset, into a secure digital token on a blockchain, unlocking key benefits like fractional ownership and greater transparency. For example, high-value properties such as commercial buildings or resorts can be divided into numerous affordable digital tokens, allowing small-scale and global investors to participate.A practical example of this is RealT, a prominent US-based platform that allows investors globally to purchase fractional ownership in rental properties using blockchain technology. In Pakistan’s context, this can prove to be beneficial where issues pertaining to titles and transfers keep inefficiencies high and valuations low. Further, by tokenizing assets, Pakistan can streamline the issuance of Sukuks and other Shariah-compliant instruments.Other prominent use-cases involve fintech companies such as ‘Anchor X’, which has collaborated with the regulatory authority of Kazakhstan to issue a Digital Tenge stable-coin for remittance and payment settlements between China and Kazakhstan.Another fintech firm, ‘AgriDEX’, is developing a blockchain-based marketplace for agriculture, connecting farmers directly with buyers overseas, enable parametric payments as well as block chain based supply-chain management. Its primary function is to enhance the efficiency of cross-country settlements by enabling stablecoin-based transactions within its platform.In the context of Pakistan, the digital currency landscape is currently hindered by misunderstanding and regulatory ambiguity. Addressing this is critical, as digital currency evolution is crucial for promoting financial inclusion, economic resilience, and institutional reform.The main hurdle isn’t technology, but the nation’s institutional readiness to adopt these tools. A key goal should be to empower citizens without undermining the stability of the Pakistani Rupee.Pakistan’s current approach to digital currencies requires greater policy coherence and strategic alignment, building upon the regulatory foundation set by the Virtual Assets Ordinance 2025 and the Crypto Council. A key opportunity lies in serving the 100 million unbanked adults, many of whom are younger people ready for digital adoption.The policy needs to balance the urgent need for innovation, financial inclusion, versus critical concerns over financial stability, monetary sovereignty, AML/CFT compliance, and capital flight. A balanced, forward-looking regulatory framework is essential to reconcile these demands and potentially unlock USD 20–25 billion in economic value.Pakistan already has an operational real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system and the national instant payment system, Raast, launched by the SBP to enable end to end digital payments among stakeholders instantaneously.While Raast is a payment rail (a channel to transfer money), and not a CBDC, this existing infrastructure provides a strong digital foundation and user adoption experience. Furthermore, the SBP has completed the preparatory phase for the CBDC project, and currently exploring various design choices.Looking to the future, a clear digital currency roadmap covering 2026 to 2030 is essential. The existing Crypto Council should be made more broad-based, ensuring wider independent representation.Furthermore, a high-visibility pilot project should be undertaken, with its first practical use-case on inward remittances based on stable-coins, which would reduce the transaction cost multifold and the transaction time from days to minutes. The immediate concern for bankers is stable-coin regulation.The Genius Act prohibits stable-coins from offering yields to their buyers, a concession that was intended to keep the coins from sapping demand for bank deposits, and thereby reducing lending. But a workaround means stable-coin issuers such as Circle (which issues the popular USDC coin) can share their revenue with exchanges like Coinbase which, in turn, pay “rewards” to the users buying stable-coins. Banks want this loophole closed.Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
