Bilal Bin Saqib calls for stronger international regulation as digital assets and blockchain reshape global financial systems.
UNITED NATIONS: Minister of State and Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), Bilal Bin Saqib, has urged United Nations Member States to move beyond discussions on digital assets and establish the regulatory and institutional frameworks needed to govern the next generation of global finance.
Delivering a keynote address virtually at United Nations Headquarters during a session titled “Digital Assets and Blockchain for Sustainable Development: Advancing Digital Finance through Innovation”, Bin Saqib said digital assets, tokenisation and distributed ledger technologies could enable emerging economies to rethink financial infrastructure around inclusion, efficiency and access.
The briefing was convened by the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (ODET).
The event brought together UN Member States, UN entities and private-sector stakeholders to discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging financial technologies.
Bin Saqib calls for stronger digital finance frameworks
“The question before this room is not whether these technologies will scale. They will. The question is: who will shape them, and in whose interest?” Bin Saqib said.
He placed ordinary people at the centre of the digital finance debate, highlighting that around 1.4 billion adults globally remain outside the formal financial system.
He added that billions more participate in financial systems on unequal terms because of costly remittances, slow settlement processes and limited access to credit.
Bin Saqib also highlighted the continuing cost of cross-border remittances, noting that the average cost of sending $200 remains more than twice the 3 per cent target established under Sustainable Development Goal 10.c.
Reducing remittance costs, he said, could return billions of dollars each year directly to families.
Digital finance could expand access to credit
The PVARA chairman said the potential of digital finance extended well beyond payments.
Digital identity systems and verifiable financial histories could help small businesses, farmers and women entrepreneurs demonstrate economic activity without relying entirely on traditional collateral or documentation.
He said tokenisation could create new mechanisms for mobilising capital by fractionalising assets ranging from infrastructure bonds to renewable energy projects.
Distributed ledger technologies could also improve transparency across public expenditure and supply chains, potentially strengthening accountability and traceability.
These priorities reflected the broader focus of the briefing, which covered payments, remittances, financial inclusion, capital mobilisation, digital identity, traceability and responsible implementation.
Regulation needed alongside innovation
However, Bin Saqib cautioned against treating technology as an automatic solution.
He pointed to risks including retail market volatility, illicit finance, concentration of power and the growing divide between countries with sophisticated regulatory capabilities and those without them.
“The choice before every Member State is not regulate or don’t regulate. It is simpler, and starker, than that: to govern the future, or be governed by it,” he said.
Bin Saqib stressed that regulation must evolve alongside technological innovation.
He warned that frameworks introduced too late could fail consumers and markets, while regulation driven primarily by fear could push digital activity into less transparent environments.
According to Bin Saqib, the emerging lesson from jurisdictions around the world is that regulation should be viewed as a means of building markets rather than blocking them.
Pakistan calls for international cooperation
“No nation rises alone, and no nation should be left to rise alone,” Bin Saqib said, urging Member States to treat the briefing as the beginning of deeper international cooperation rather than an isolated discussion.
The programme subsequently brought Member States, UN entities and industry representatives together to discuss digital assets, blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital identity and the policy conditions required to support the responsible implementation of emerging financial technologies.
The discussions underscored the growing need for international coordination as governments seek to balance innovation in digital finance with consumer protection, financial stability and transparency.