ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis may hold crypto currency worth $20 billion in 2020-21 according to a report released by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) yesterday. The report adds that “Pakistan now ranked 3rd in Global Crypto Adoption Index in 2021.” The figure shows a staggering 711 percent increase in Crypto assets held by Pakistanis since last year.
The phenomenon of cryptocurrencies has gained popularity with the public worldwide. While smaller countries like EL Salvador have made them a legal tender, larger economies like China and USA are trying to put restraints on it by introducing new regulations.
Pakistan’s regulator, State Bank shares the opinion of our trading partner China on this matter. It has repeatedly discouraged the general public from indulging in crypto transactions while also restricted dealings of crypto for entities under its jurisdiction. Furthermore, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has called on the Pakistani authorities to better regulate the crypto industry.
The report suggests there is potential to encash the windfall gains of billions of dollars in crypto assets of Pakistanis/dual nationals. However, the first mover advantage would be critical. The report emphasized on the urgency to develop regulatory framework and national cryptocurrency strategy to deal with the matter. One of the suggested measures was to introduce a one-time asset declaration scheme along with some capital gain tax. Furthermore there are huge speculative gains existing in digital coins which may not be given the status of a legal tender but should be formalized as an asset class.
Read the full report here.
