Big embarrassment! Pakistan’s crypto attempt to 'please' Donald Trump in a soup

Pakistan’s scramble to please US President Donald Trump by establishing a strategic bitcoin reserve seems to have landed it in a soup! According to a report in the Dawn, senior officials in Islamabad have said that cryptocurrency remains banned in Pakistan. The State Bank of Pakistan and the Ministry of Finance both clarified that cryptocurrency transactions remain prohibited in Pakistan, with all such dealings considered unlawful under existing regulations.At a session of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal explained that despite the recent establishment of a Crypto Council by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through executive order to explore digital asset policies, the prohibition on cryptocurrency remains enforced under SBP and SECP guidelines.According to the Dawn report, Bosal said, "There will be a legal framework only when the government formally takes a decision, but the current legal status is that crypto is not a legal tender in Pakistan." He emphasised that formal legislation would be necessary to alter the current status.Also Read | Donald Trump’s trade policy thrown into turmoil! Will countries like India, China be tempted to hold off tariff talks?Members of the committee voiced their bewilderment regarding the government's stance. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig raised concerns about the contradiction where citizens were being prompted to invest in cryptocurrency despite its legal prohibition, cautioning that such investments could result in severe repercussions for the investors.The potentially embarrassing clarification by officials comes even as a big declaration about creating a government-supported Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has been made.Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal Bin Saqib in a presentation at the Bitcoin Vegas 2025 Conference announced his country’s intentions to establish a government-supported Strategic Bitcoin reserve. The initiative was described as "strategic" and was perceived as an effort to align with US President Donald Trump's pro-cryptocurrency position."We want to thank the US because we are getting inspired from them," Bilal said after the announcement.Also Read | Target where it hurts: India wants Pakistan back on FATF ‘grey list’; to oppose World Bank loansSohail Jawad, the executive director of State Bank of Pakistan, informed the committee about the central bank's stance on cryptocurrencies. He confirmed that they had declared cryptocurrencies illegal in 2024, and emphasised that this position "was still intact", as reported by Dawn.He further mentioned that the Financial Monitoring Unit continues to forward cryptocurrency-related cases to law enforcement authorities.