- Pakistan will allocate 2,000 MW of surplus power to boost Bitcoin mining and AI data center development nationwide.
- Pakistan establishes a new digital asset authority to regulate crypto exchanges, stablecoins, and tokenized government debt.
Pakistan’s Finance Ministry has officially announced that it will allocate 2,000 megawatts of surplus electricity to encourage Bitcoin mining and the construction of large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) centers, according to 24NewsHD. This is part of the digital transformation that they want to realize as soon as possible.
Electricity Finds a New Purpose in the Digital Age
This move comes amid the often-criticized national energy situation. But this time, the government is utilizing the surplus that was previously languishing without direction. Rather than letting electricity flow into empty space, why not convert it into digital assets that can be traded globally? That’s the simple logic. And in practice, this paves the way for foreign investment and new technology projects.
Not just promises, the government also includes quite tempting tax incentives. Foreign companies are given licensing facilities, tax breaks, and exemptions from import duties for mining equipment and data centers.
Furthermore, infrastructure is also starting to be improved. Through the 45,000-kilometer Africa-2 submarine cable, Pakistan’s bandwidth capacity is now much more ready to handle data center activities that are hungry for fast and stable connections.
Pakistan Steps Up Its Crypto Game
Interestingly, just a month after the launch of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has been announced as an advisor. According to CNF, this move was immediately followed by the signing of a Letter of Intent (LoI) between the PCC and the World Leading Finance Initiative (WLFI) on April 27.
The LoI contained plans for a massive collaboration in blockchain innovation, DeFi expansion, and stablecoin adoption across Pakistan.
What if all of this were implemented in one clearly regulated ecosystem. Well, for that, the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) was born. Officially established on May 21, 2025, this authority is responsible for everything from crypto exchange licensing, stablecoins, government debt tokenization, digital wallets, to DeFi applications.
PDAA will even be directly involved in the process of monetizing the surplus electricity through a Bitcoin mining project.
On the other hand, crypto diplomacy is also underway. PCC CEO Bilal Bin Saqib flew to New York and on May 25 met with two US Senators, Bill Hagerty and Rick Scott. They discussed how Pakistan’s crypto regulations could be brought into line with international standards. They wanted to create a safe and clear space for innovation, while still maintaining consumer protection.
However, the challenges are not over. A project of this magnitude will certainly have to deal with issues of power distribution, data center cooling, and the need for clean water for large-scale servers.
The government seems to be aware of this, as in its medium-term plan, it has mentioned that it will be moving to renewable energy sources such as solar and hydro. So, the project will not be dependent on fuel-based energy reserves indefinitely.
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