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Pakistan pitches itself as a Bitcoin mining hub, a rare earth source, and offers support for Donald Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Its Treasury Department is fighting to secure deals with the country’s largest export partner, the United States, and hopes to avoid tariffs that could reach 29% on July 9th.
Islamabad and analysts say that crypto and mining want Trump to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and that he would nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“We are pleased to announce that we are a great source of service,” said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Asia-Pacific Foundation in Canada.
The US accounts for one-fifth of exports from Pakistan, a large clothing manufacturer.
Pakistani negotiators, including the Minister of Crypto, arrived in Washington on Monday for a meeting with US trade representative Jamieson Greer. Pakistani officials say any transaction could include a commitment to purchase cotton and soybeans native to the US, as well as a “strategic and investment” partnership in the mining sector. The White House declined to comment on Pakistan’s statement that the deal could take place as quickly as this week.
Pakistan’s Army Secretary, Asim Munier, spent lunch with Trump last month discussing the trade in mining Bitcoin and rare earth minerals and the potential for mining his country.
Munir was given a Maga hat and White House keys, sources said the meeting was the culmination of months of charm in assaults on court investors and businessmen near the US president.
US farm workers in Iowa prepare to plant soybeans. Pakistani officials say any deal could include a promise to buy cotton and soybeans native to the US ©Benjamin Roberts/Bloomberg
Officials say crypto and mining will help Pakistan’s long-standing economy, recruit young people, and revise the path to realizing new investments and releasing them from public debt. Pakistan has created a “strategic” Bitcoin reserve, modelled on what was founded by Trump in March, saying it will allocate 2,000 MW of electricity to cryptocurrency mining.
In February, Pakistan launched a Cryptocourse to regulate blockchain and digital assets. In April, former Chief Vinance officer Changpeng Zhao was appointed as strategic advisor to Crypto Regulation. Zhao spent four months in prison last year after pleading guilty to failing to establish proper money laundering control in the United States. He is seeking pardon from Trump.
In May, Pakistan’s finance ministry said it would create a digital asset authority to “regulate blockchain-based financial infrastructure.”
Islamabad has signed a “Letter of Intent” with the founder of Trump-backed crypto group World Liberty Financial to cooperate in adopting blockchain and stubcoin, including Zach Witkov, the son of Trump envoy Steve Witkov.
In May, Pakistan’s crypto minister and WLF advisor, Bilal bin Sakib, told a Las Vegas audience, including US Vice President JD Vance and the president’s son Eric Trump that Donald Trump was the “president who saved Crypto.”
Sakib later visited the White House to meet the sons of Cantor Fitzgerald chairman Brandon Rutnick and the US Secretary of Commerce Howard Rutnick of New York, and invited Justin Sun, the founder of the digital assets platform Tron, who has ties to the Trump family.
Saqib told the Financial Times that Pakistan’s crypto diplomacy has “allowed us to rebrand Pakistan as a builder, not just as a beneficiary in the global innovation ecosystem.”
Bilal bin Saqib, Pakistan’s Crypto Minister and Advisor to Liberty Financials around the world ©Travis P Ball/Sipa USA
In addition to Crypto Ventures, Munir is urging US investors to help authorities claim that they are trillions of dollars of undeveloped mineral wealth in its volatile western states.
New York-based lawyer Robert Saiden said he is lobbying Pakistan and is in talks to Washington and Islamabad to launch a mineral trade.
The minerals are under two regions held by a deadly rebellion. Pakistani and US officials say the US government is particularly interested in preparing Pakistan’s antimony.
“You’re sitting on trillions of dollars of rare earth minerals right now,” Zach Witkov said in Lahore during his trip in April. “By tokenizing them, we can actually make them a liquid market, bringing enormous wealth to the young people of this country.”
Whatever the outcome, Kugelman of the Asia-Pacific Foundation said the Islamabad’s pitch on crypto and mining is offering a “way to gain foothold in Trump’s Washington, keep Pakistan on the radar and open up opportunities for future discussion.”
