CZ "Pakistan will become one of the world's leading virtual asset countries within 5 years"

There is a view that if Pakistan continues to implement virtual asset regulation and adoption at the current pace, it could emerge as one of the world's leading virtual asset countries within the next five years.

According to a Cointelegraph report on the 31st (local time), Changpeng Zhao, former Binance CEO, said in an interview with Bilal bin Saqib, CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council, "If this pace is maintained, Pakistan will become a global leader in virtual assets within 5 years." He currently serves as a strategic advisor to the council.

Zhao cited Pakistan's relatively young and tech-friendly population structure as a strength and positively evaluated its policy-making structure for recognizing virtual asset demand and responding quickly. He said, "It is impressive that a country of this size has both a clear vision and execution speed."

Pakistan has accelerated the institutionalization of virtual assets in 2025. It established the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and allowed local operations of Binance and HTX. It is also considering measures to attract foreign capital through building a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve and tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).

Zhao expressed strong expectations particularly for the plan to tokenize the Pakistan stock market. He explained, "There is no country that does not want global investors to buy its domestic stocks," and "stock tokenization makes it possible for investors worldwide to purchase those tokens, which in turn leads to direct investment in Pakistani companies." He added that the countries that adopt tokenization early will receive the greatest benefit.

He emphasized that blockchain is an industry with low entry barriers even for individuals and small businesses. Zhao said, "Establishing a bank requires massive capital and regulation, and AI companies also require data and computing resources," and "because blockchain and virtual assets are both digital-based, they provide many more startup opportunities." He said, "Blockchain does not reject you," evaluating it as a favorable environment for entrepreneurship.

However, Zhao pointed out that educational infrastructure must accompany this growth potential. He said that expanding university curricula and incubators is necessary, and that through this Pakistan can establish itself as a long-term innovator in virtual assets.