Demographics will 'leapfrog' Bitcoin adoption in Pakistan — Bilal Bin Saqib

Pakistan’s demographics position the country as a major catalyst for Bitcoin adoption, allowing it to “leapfrog” developed nations, according to Bilal Bin Saqib, Pakistan’s state minister of crypto and blockchain.

“A global policy shift has happened, not just in Pakistan, but all around the world,” Bin Saqib told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. The government of Pakistan moved to regulate crypto in November 2024.

The country has 40 million crypto wallets and is one of the “top five” countries in terms of crypto adoption, which the minister attributed to Pakistan’s young demographic. He told Cointelegraph:

“Pakistan's median age is 20. We have 250 million people, and 70% under the age of 30. If Pakistan’s youth were to be a country, it would be the ninth or tenth most populous country on earth.” 

“Emerging markets are what will leapfrog the adoption of these new technologies,” the minister said, with smaller countries more likely to adopt Bitcoin due to their nimble size, allowing them to front-run developed countries. “It's easier to make a speedboat move than the Titanic,” Bin Saqib added.

Collaborative partnership with El Salvador for Bitcoin development

Pakistan and El Salvador signed a letter of intent in July to share education and knowledge about Bitcoin, digital asset infrastructure, and energy development for crypto mining, the minister said.

“The cooperation is essentially based on how emerging economies that are both under the IMF program can leverage technology and other financial instruments for national growth,” he told Cointelegraph.

Pakistan’s National Crypto Council and other regulatory bodies are seeking input on a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, licensing crypto exchanges, developing a strategic Bitcoin reserve, launching a stablecoin, and mining Bitcoin using excess energy, the minister said.

Mining Bitcoin with excess and runoff energy sources

“Pakistan has a very interesting problem. We have excess electricity, which we pay capacity charges for,” the minister told Cointelegraph. 

He said the country has up to 10,000 megawatts (MW) of excess energy, which is a “liability” due to the carrying costs of the electricity.

Bin Saqib said the country is allocating 2,000 MW for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. The government is also exploring the potential to mine BTC with runoff energy from methane and other excess or stranded power sources, he added.