ISLAMABAD – The digital finance revolution is moving fast, and Pakistan wants the world to catch up. At UN, PVARA Chief Bilal Bin Saqib delivered strong call for global rules, warning that governments must act now to shape the future of digital finance before technology gets ahead of regulation.
Speaking virtually at UN Headquarters, Bilal Bin Saqib urged countries to stop treating digital assets and emerging financial technologies as a subject for endless discussion and start building practical systems to regulate them.
1.4 billion adults remain outside the formal financial system. That is not just a gap. It is a design failure.
At the United Nations, Minister of State & Chairman PVARA Bilal Bin Saqib laid out a vision for digital finance built around access, inclusion and real-world impact.… pic.twitter.com/0JOPRUzh7E
— Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@PakistanVARA) September 12, 2026
He said digital finance is already expanding rapidly, and governments now have to decide who will shape that future. “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 asked.
The briefing was organised by Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in collaboration with UNDP, UNCTAD and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (ODET).
For PVARA chief, the digital-finance debate is not just about cryptocurrencies, blockchain or new technology. It is also about millions of people who remain unable to properly participate in the formal economy.
Around 1.4 billion adults worldwide are still outside the formal financial system, while billions more face expensive money transfers, slow settlements and limited access to credit.
Remittances are one of the clearest examples. Sending just $200 across borders costs more than twice the 3% target set under Sustainable Development Goal 10.c. Cutting those costs, Bin Saqib said, could put billions of dollars back into the hands of families that rely on money sent from abroad.
Bilal highlighted how digital tools could help people who often struggle to prove their financial worth through conventional banking systems. Digital identity systems and verifiable financial records could give small businesses, farmers and women entrepreneurs a way to demonstrate their economic activity without having to rely entirely on traditional collateral.
That could make it easier for underserved groups to establish financial histories and gain access to credit. He also pointed to tokenisation as a potentially powerful way of bringing fresh capital into major projects.
Assets such as infrastructure bonds and renewable-energy projects could be divided into smaller investment units, allowing more people and investors to participate. But Bin Saqib was equally clear that digital finance is not without dangers.
He warned about market volatility, illicit finance and the growing concentration of financial and technological power. There is also a widening gap between countries that are already developing sophisticated digital-finance rules and those still struggling to establish basic regulatory frameworks.
For governments, he argued, the challenge is finding the middle ground. Waiting too long could leave consumers and financial markets exposed. Going too far in the opposite direction could push legitimate digital activity into less transparent environments.
The answer, he said, is regulation that gives markets room to grow while protecting the people using them.
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“The choice before every Member State is not regulate or don’t regulate,” he said, adding “It is simpler, and starker than that: to govern the future, or be governed by it.” He called on UN member states to turn the discussion into a starting point for wider international cooperation, stressing that digital finance cannot be effectively managed by countries acting alone.
As blockchain, AI and digital identity become increasingly intertwined with financial services, governments, international organisations and industry will need to work together on common safeguards and standards.
He concluded with appeal for countries to ensure that the digital transformation does not leave vulnerable communities further behind.
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