Popular social media platforms claimed that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was planning to establish its Asian head office in Pakistan. However, sources within the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) confirmed to The Current that this information was baseless and the underlying claims were false.

 

While sources from the PCC have dubbed the claims as misinformation, Binance has not yet issued an official statement to distance itself from these claims.

 

These claims, made on Tuesday, 10 June, were spread out by two accounts on X (formerly Twitter): ‘South Asia Index’ and ‘Defence Index’. Analytics indicate that these posts were viewed by 186,400 accounts and garnered 7,400 likes.

 

Netizens, unaware that the claims were false, outlined the potential benefits for Pakistan.

 

“Pakistan will be the center of crypto market in Asia” one user wrote in the comments.

 

Another social media user commented, “Its need of hour and Pakistan is winning it. More power to Pakistan.”.

 

It merits a mention that Binance’s co-founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), recently joined the PCC, lending weight to the false claims, as some believed he played a role in bringing Binance’s headquarters to Pakistan. However, while the aforementioned claims have been identified by The Current to be false, Pakistan has been making great strides to adopt, regulate, and integrate digital assets into the country's economic landscape.

 

Some of these developments include the unveiling of Pakistan’s first-ever government-led Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at Bitcoin Vegas 2025 in Las Vegas, United States. Moreover, the PCC’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bilal Bin Saqib, urged crypto builders in his keynote speech at Bitcoin Vegas 2025 to tokenise land and “build wallets for the unbanked”. 

 

If builders heed his advice, Pakistan could witness a sizable influx of foreign direct investment (FDI), to the tune of billions of dollars, along with a potential increase in employment opportunities. To facilitate the inflow of crypto-related investments, authorities reportedly greenlighted the allocation of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power to these initiatives.

 

Data from reports suggests that the government intended to provide crypto miners with electricity at eight to nine rupees per unit. For reference, the base rate stands at a significantly higher Rs24 to Rs25 per unit, showcasing the magnitude of savings bitcoin miners would have enjoyed. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed displeasure over the provision of surplus power at uneven rates to different segments of Pakistani society.

 
The IMF’s stance on the provision of surplus power at lower rates has led analysts to question whether the government will still honour their announcement to allocate 2000MW of power to crypto mining and AI data centres.