"Subsidy for Bitcoin Mining"…IMF Rejects Pakistan's Proposal

JOON HYOUNG LEE

Summary

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced its rejection of Pakistan's plan to provide subsidies for Bitcoin mining.
The IMF raised concerns about market distortion and impairment of market efficiency, expressing a negative stance on supporting Bitcoin mining.
While the Pakistani government planned to allocate part of its surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining, it stated that discussions with relevant international organizations would continue.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has effectively rejected the Pakistani government's plan for Bitcoin (BTC) mining.

According to CoinDesk on the 3rd (local time), Pakray Alam Irfan, Pakistan's former Minister of Power, stated at a meeting of the Senate Power Committee that "the IMF has rejected the proposal to supply subsidized electricity for Bitcoin mining." Minister Irfan said, "The IMF is concerned about market distortion" and added that they are "still in discussions with international institutions to flesh out the (mining) plan."

Initially, the Pakistani government planned to use surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining. Specifically, their plan was to allocate 2,000MW out of 7,000MW of surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining at a relatively low price. However, the IMF reportedly expressed concerns about these incentives, stating that they "are similar to tax benefits that harm market efficiency."

Earlier, the Pakistani government announced in May that it would promote strategic reserves of Bitcoin and support cryptocurrency mining.

BTC