ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SC Financial Technologies LLC, an affiliated entity of World Liberty Financial, to explore using World Liberty’s stablecoin for cross-border transactions.
The Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) said in a statement that a memorandum of understanding with SC Financial Technologies would enable “dialogue and technical understanding around emerging digital payment architectures”.
The announcement of the memorandum came during a visit to Pakistan by Zach Witkoff, son of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and co-founder and chief executive of World Liberty.
Witkoff also met senior Pakistani stakeholders to discuss how countries are approaching secure, compliant, and transparent digital payment infrastructure, including innovations in cross-border settlement and foreign exchange processes.
“Pakistan is rapidly positioning itself as a serious contender in the global digital finance landscape, as World Liberty Financial deepens its engagement with the country to explore next-generation digital payment and cross-border finance innovations,” the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority said in a statement.
Industry observers view World Liberty Financial’s second engagement with Pakistan as a strong indication that the country is being actively evaluated as a potential early-stage partner jurisdiction for exploring new digital payment models, including its stablecoin, USD1, at a time when stable, regulation-aware markets are increasingly sought by global fintech players, it added.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb said: “Pakistan recognises that the future of finance is being shaped today. Our focus is to stay ahead of the curve by engaging with credible global players, understanding new financial models, and ensuring that innovation, where explored, is aligned with regulation, stability, and national interest.”
This momentum, according to the assets authority, builds on earlier engagement between World Liberty Financial and Pakistan, including the signing of a Letter of Intent in April with the Pakistan Crypto Council, led by CEO Bilal Bin Saqib, which laid the groundwork for knowledge-sharing and ecosystem-level dialogue around emerging financial technologies.
On 12 December, the newly established Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority issued No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to Binance and HTX, enabling both platforms to initiate local incorporation in Pakistan.
These NOCs were issued in under five months, faster than comparable timelines seen in other jurisdictions globally. As part of the engagement, the Founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao and Founder of TRON, Justin Sun also visited Pakistan, meeting with key public and private sector stakeholders as part of a broader engagement around the country’s evolving digital asset and regulatory framework.
“Pakistan is emerging as one of the most compelling frontier markets for digital payments and financial innovation, driven by over US $38 billion in annual remittance inflows, a rapidly growing digital economy, an estimated 40 million crypto users, and industry estimates of up to US $300 billion in annual trading volume, placing the country among the largest digital asset user bases globally,” the statement read.
With sustained international interest and a structured, regulation-first approach, the authority said that Pakistan is increasingly being viewed as a market to watch in the evolution of global digital finance. –Agencies
