Pakistan Stuns Global Community by Preparing for Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Launch

Key Points

• Pakistan plans to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), holding onto the BTC without selling.
• As of May 2025, eight countries hold over $57 billion worth of BTC.

Pakistan has announced its intention to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).

Bilal bin Saqib, CEO of the Pakistani Crypto Council (PCC) and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, made the announcement at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas.

Government-Led Bitcoin Reserve

Saqib stated, “The Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin strategic reserve. And the national BTC wallet is not for speculation or hype. We’ll be holding these BTCs and we’ll never sell them.”

He also acknowledged the influence of President Donald Trump in the crypto space, stating that Trump recognized Bitcoin as an opportunity for innovation, freedom, and sovereignty.

The Trump administration had also pledged to establish an SBR, a move that has sparked interest in other nations, including Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Crypto Initiatives

Pakistan’s interest in cryptocurrency extends beyond the SBR. In March, Saqib announced that the country was pushing for a legal framework to encourage cryptocurrency adoption and investment.

Binance founder, CZ, was appointed as a strategic advisor by the PCC. Pakistan’s crypto engagements have also extended to Trump-backed World Liberty Financials (WLFI) in a recent partnership.

In April, the PCC-WLFI partnership was announced, aimed at promoting crypto adoption and conducting experiments related to blockchain and tokenization.

Saqib stated that Pakistan has about 40 million crypto users, and the young talent was a great opportunity.

According to the 2024 Chainalysis crypto adoption report, Pakistan was among the top ten countries due to increased usage of centralized exchanges.

If the SBR is implemented, Pakistan would join El Salvador, the Kingdom of Bhutan, the U.S., and China as BTC holders.

According to BitBo data, only eight countries hold BTC, collectively worth over $57 billion. Nation-state and institutional adoption is projected to be a major catalyst for BTC’s upside in the long term.

At the time of reporting, BTC was trading at $108K, up 14% in the past thirty days and +40% from the April low.