Pakistan announces establishment of its first Bitcoin reserve at US event
Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal Bin Saqib made the announcement on Wednesday at the Bitcoin Vegas 2025 conference in Las Vegas.
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India.com
20 hours ago
- India.com
Meet Bilal bin Saqib, who is given responsibility to make Pakistan 'king' of bitcoin, his net worth is Rs ..
Meet Bilal bin Saqib, who is given responsibility to make Pakistan 'king' of bitcoin, his net worth is Rs .. Pakistan took a big step last week and created their first government 'Strategic Bitcoin Reserve'. This means that Pakistan is now looking at Bitcoin cryptocurrency as an asset. Their aim is to attract investments from around the world. They want to show that they are serious about digital assets. The announcement came when Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif appointed 34-year-old Bilal Bin Saqib as his special assistant. Bilal Bin Saqib is the CEO of Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) and has been given the status of a Minister of State. This means that the government is giving him a lot of importance in matters of crypto. What does Bilal do? Bilal bin Saqib is the co-founder of an organization named Tayaba. This organization works to solve the water problem in Pakistan. According to Forbes, their famous product is the 'H2O Wheel'. This is a wheel with which people can easily carry up to 40 liters of water. This helps women and children in rural areas a lot in fetching water. Tayaba has distributed more than 5500 wheels in Pakistan. He is the founder of 'Web3 Pakistan'. It is Pakistan's first and largest blockchain community. He has helped organize major blockchain events such as ETHBarcelona. He has also given speeches at the World Economic Forum and NFT NYC. Studied from London Bilal Bin Saqib has a degree in innovation and entrepreneurship from the London School of Economics. He is also on the advisory board of Queen Mary University of London. Before joining blockchain in 2017, he worked as an international strategy consultant for 10 years. He mostly helped UK companies expand into Asia and Africa. Featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 In the year 2023, Bilal was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by King Charles. He received this honor for doing relief work through the 'One Million Meals' initiative during COVID-19 in the UK. He has also been included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. This list is of those youth who have done good work in the society. What will be Bilal's work? Bilal Bin Saqib has been given many responsibilities. He has to create a framework for digital assets as per FATF rules. FATF is an organization that looks after whether money is being misused or not. He has to start national bitcoin mining projects. Bitcoin mining means creating bitcoins . He has to incorporate blockchain technology in finance, land records and government work. He also has to license Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). VASPs are companies that provide services related to crypto. He also has to promote the Web3 ecosystem. Web3 is a new form of internet in which blockchain technology is used. What is the net worth? Bilal, born in July 1990, has a good amount of wealth. Although not much is known about his wealth, according to media reports, his net worth is said to be $2.42 million (about Rs 20.68 crore). He is also the CEO of UK's best digital marketing agency BBS & Co.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Who is Bilal Bin Saqib- social entrepreneur leading Pakistan's crypto push?
Bilal Bin Saqib (File photo taken from LinkedIn) Pakistan last week unveiled its first government-led Strategic Bitcoin Reserve - a move aimed at attracting global investment and signaling a long-term commitment to digital assets. The announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed Bilal Bin Saqib, CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), as his special assistant on blockchain and cryptocurrency, with the status of Minister of State. Saqib revealed the initiative while delivering a keynote address at Bitcoin Vegas 2025, attended by US Vice President JD Vance, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr, Dawn reported. 'Pakistan is no longer defined by its past. It is being reborn as a forward-looking hub of digital innovation,' he said. Here's what to know about the man at the center of Pakistan's crypto transformation: Who is Bilal Bin Saqib? Saqib is the co-founder of Tayaba, a social enterprise focused on addressing Pakistan's water crisis. As reported by Forbes, its flagship product- the H2O wheel- allows users to transport up to 40 liters of water, significantly easing the daily burden on women and children in rural areas. Tayaba has distributed over 5,500 wheels across Pakistan. Saqib's responsibilities include crafting a FATF-compliant regulatory framework for digital assets, launching national bitcoin mining projects, and integrating blockchain into sectors like finance, land records, and governance. He will also oversee licensing for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and support the development of the Web3 ecosystem, reported Dawn. He holds a degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the London School of Economics and serves on the advisory board of Queen Mary University of London. Prior to entering the blockchain space in 2017, Saqib worked as an international strategy consultant for a decade, mainly helping UK firms expand into Asia and Africa. In 2023, he was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by King Charles for his Covid-19 relief work in the UK through the One Million Meals initiative. He has also been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 list for his contributions to social impact. Saqib is the founder of Web3 Pakistan , the country's first and largest blockchain community. He has helped organize major blockchain events such as ETHBarcelona and has spoken at the World Economic Forum and NFT NYC. According to Dawn, Pakistan currently ranks among the top 10 countries for crypto adoption, with over 40 million users and a crypto trading volume exceeding $300 billion annually. In this context, Bilal Bin Saqib is emerging as a key figure shaping Pakistan's digital future. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Indian Express
Inside Track: Pak's PR Plus
Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal bin Saqib is modest in claiming that Pakistan is a victim of bad PR. His country has an old tradition of outdoing India in the hospitality sector for influential state guests. For decades, Indian ambassadors have complained about their pitiful entertainment allowances compared to the lavish budgets of their Pakistani counterparts. The Pakistanis leave no stone unturned in entertaining VVIP foreign guests, from commandeering heritage monuments for throwing dinners to organising falconry and hunting parties of protected species for Middle East royalty. The Pakistani intelligentsia with aristocratic bloodlines and Oxbridge backgrounds have significant clout in Western liberal circles, including think tanks, NGOs, universities and diplomatic parties. Modi's India, painted by Pakistan as an illiberal democracy encouraging Hindutva zealots, is not a favourite in such company. (Ironically, during Operation Sindoor dissenting views within India reflected its plurality, while the Pakistani intelligentsia spoke in one voice while backing its military dictatorship against terror sponsorship charges). One biased American legacy newspaper judged the military success of the two countries in the four-day war at par, even while displaying satellite imagery demonstrating extensive damage to Pakistani air bases and displaying no evidentiary proof of major destruction on the Indian side. In a bid to counter false propaganda, a senior official recently gave Indian MPs on the diplomatic outreach tours a breakdown of the relatively minor Indian losses. Realisation has dawned that in the absence of official information, Pakistani, Turkish and Chinese WhatsApp messages went to town spreading misinformation. When Trump was elected, we assumed that he had a soft corner for India as a counter to China, particularly as some key Trump appointees have India ties. But his recent statements on India appear rather unfriendly, possibly because India, unlike Pakistan, is unwilling to give Trump credit for brokering a ceasefire and accepting tariff rates as a bargaining chip. The Modi government has finalised at great expense a former Trump aide as a lobbyist for India. Pakistan has a different strategy. In January, Donald Trump Junior's college friend and hunting buddy Gentry Beach was hosted by the Pakistan PM in both Islamabad and Dubai, and was reportedly promised lucrative deals for the Trump business empire. Beach also visited Bangladesh and Turkey. Just after the April 22 terrorist attack, Pakistan signed a crypto deal with World Liberty Financial, a crypto currency firm in which the Trump family has a major stake. Apart from Trump's mercurial temperament and business interests, another reason for the slight trust deficit in Indo-US relations is that Trump has yet to appoint key officials to liaise with India. A US ambassador to India has not been named. The post of US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia is vacant. Ricky Gill, a relatively junior officer in the National Security Council, is presently the only White House official directly dealing with India. Supriya Sule's appointment as the head of one of India's diplomatic outreach teams and her recent meeting with PM Modi is significant. Sule was always the stumbling block in the NCP aligning with the BJP. Even when Ajit Pawar and most of the party defected, Sule persuaded Sharad Pawar to stay back. Pawar Senior desires a Cabinet berth for his daughter at the Centre. Modi would welcome the support of Pawar's 8 MPs. He realises Pawar's few MLAs are keen to join the government since they complain that their constituencies are starved of central funding because they are in the Opposition. In a new twist, Ajit no longer wants his uncle's NCP to merge with his wing of the party. Ajit's wife is still smarting from her defeat to Sule in the Baramati Lok Sabha poll. A pragmatic solution to get around Ajit's opposition is for Pawar's NCP to join the NDA directly. The BJP is treading cautiously since Sule has a history of persuading her father to run from the altar just when the marriage is about to be formalised. Shashi Tharoor's selection as head of one of the parliamentary teams to present India's case on the war on terrorism is masterful on two counts. Tharoor, who met Prime Minister Modi before his foreign tours, is the most seasoned, skilled and well-networked diplomat in the group, and is already making waves. Congresspersons sourly question his motives in unequivocally applauding the Modi government. Tharoor confessed to a friend it is one thing to be ignored by Rahul Gandhi, but when the entire Congress unit in Kerala, taking its cue from K C Venugopal, gives him the short shrift, what future does he have in the party?
