Pakistan On Track To Be A “Crypto Leader” By 2030 If Current Rate Of Adoption Continues: CZ

Pakistan is on track to become a “crypto leader” by 2030 if it continues the rate of adoption shown in 2025, according to Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ). 

CZ credited Pakistan’s leadership for recognizing the demand for crypto among its relatively young and tech-savvy population in a recent interview with Pakistan Crypto Council CEO Bilal bin Saqib that was shared on X on Dec. 30.

“I think it’s fantastic to see the country of this size are able to have this clear vision from the leadership and ability to move at this speed,” CZ said. “If we keep moving at this speed in five years, Pakistan will be the crypto leader, one of the crypto leaders in the world,” the former Binance CEO, who serves as a strategic adviser to the crypto council, added. 

Pakistan Has Made Major Crypto Moves This Year, Eyes Growing Tokenization Sector

In 2025, Pakistan has taken several major steps towards formalizing its crypto ecosystem. This includes establishing the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, giving crypto exchanges Binance and HTX the greenlight to operate in the country, and building a Bitcoin (BTC) reserve.

Pakistan has also started exploring the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) as part of an effort to attract foreign investment and boost overall liquidity. 

When CZ was asked about what potential benefits tokenizing Pakistan’s stock market could bring, the Binance co-founder responded,” Which country doesn’t want the global population to buy their stocks?”

He then said that tokenized stocks have global reach, and backed the idea that tokenizing Pakistan’s stocks could lead to more foreign investment into the country. 

However, CZ went on to say that Pakistan will need to move fast with its tokenization plans, arguing that whichever country has a first-mover advantage will reap the most benefits from tokenization. 

Tokenization has been a key theme in the Web3 space this year, and is often seen as a vehicle for the institutional adoption of digital assets, alongside stablecoins.

The market size of tokenized stocks has soared in 2025. Recently, the capitalization of the sector crossed $1.2 billion, according to Token Terminal. 

That growth is in line with the rise seen in the broader tokenized RWAs market. In the past 30 days alone, the space’s capitalization has risen more than 4% to around $19.3 billion, data from RWA.xyz shows. 

Global tokenized RWA market overview (Source: RWA.xyz)

Blockchain Presents A Lower Barrier To Entry Than Traditional Banking And AI Industries

CZ also said that getting involved in blockchain and building products on distributed ledgers is much simpler than doing the same in the traditional banking or artificial intelligence (AI) industries. 

He added that a young person looking to start a traditional bank will have “limited opportunities.” Meanwhile, someone looking to start a business in the AI space might not have the large data, the large compute, and all of the chips needed, according to CZ. 

“Both of those industries require quite a bit of resources to do a startup,” he said. 

Blockchain, on the other hand, is more open. 

“Blockchain is one of the best places for entrepreneurs,” CZ argued. However, he said that there is still a need for more education, university programs, and incubators to foster innovation.