Bilal Bin Saqib sets out vision for AI-driven regulation

According to Mettis Link News, Pakistan is preparing to regulate artificial intelligence and tokenization, two technologies expected to reshape financial institutions and capital markets. Minister of State and PVARA Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib made the remarks at the inaugural Silk Road Finance & Technology Forum in Tashkent. Officials are also reviewing a sovereign investment product that is digitally native and meant to ease access for the Pakistani diaspora.

Bin Saqib said Pakistan's 2018 curbs on virtual assets pushed activity overseas and into peer-to-peer arrangements rather than ending it, leaving consumers poorly protected. Since then, the Virtual Assets Act, 2026 has been enacted, making PVARA the dedicated regulator, which has notified licensing rules and opened a licensing portal for service providers. The State Bank of Pakistan's Circular 10 also lets regulated banks open accounts, including segregated client-money accounts, for licensed providers.

On tokenization, Bin Saqib described a model under study: a digitally native sovereign note issued on regulated blockchain rails and settling the same day. He said it could reduce ticket sizes and settlement times while improving transparency, and that the opportunity extends to tokenized real-world assets and private capital. He also urged young Pakistanis to build companies around AI and blockchain, citing PVARA's regulatory sandbox as a supervised testing space.