KARACHI: One of the world’s most powerful people in crypto, co-founder and former CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao, has been appointed as a strategic adviser to the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), the finance ministry said on Monday.
The announcement came after Zhao met key members of the PCC on Monday, including Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is the chairman of the council, and Bilal Bin Saqib, its CEO. Zhao also separately met the Pakistani prime minister and deputy PM in Islamabad.
The PCC, established by the government last month, aims to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in a bid to lure international investment. Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin are not officially regulated in Pakistan but are also not illegal or banned. As of Jan. 16, 2021, the State Bank of Pakistan has not authorized any individuals or organizations to carry out the sale, purchase, exchange, and investment of virtual currencies, coins, and tokens.
“This is a landmark moment for Pakistan, we are sending a clear message to the world: Pakistan is open for innovation,” Aurangzeb said in a statement.
“With CZ onboard, we are accelerating our vision to make Pakistan a regional powerhouse for Web3, digital finance, and blockchain-driven growth.”
As strategic adviser to the council, Zhao will provide guidance on regulation, infrastructure, education, and adoption and work closely with the government of Pakistan and the private sector to create a “compliant, inclusive, and globally competitive crypto ecosystem,” the finance ministry said.
“Pakistan is a country of 240 million people, over 60 percent of whom are under the age of 30. The potential here is limitless,” Zhao was quoted as saying in the statement.
Zhao in 2023 stepped down as Binance CEO and pleaded guilty to breaking US anti-money laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement resolving a years-long probe into the world’s largest crypto exchange, prosecutors said. The deal with the Justice Department, part of a large settlement between Binance and other US agencies, resolved criminal charges for conducting an unlicensed money transmitter business, conspiracy and breaching sanctions regulations.
According to Forbes, Zhao, who is a Chinese-born Canadian businessman, was ranked the 24th-richest person in the world, and second-richest Canadian overall, with a net worth estimated at $66.6 billion as of January 2025.
In 2013, Zhao was a member of the team that developed Blockchain.info. He has also served as Chief Technology Officer of OKCoin. In 2022, Zhao invested $500 million through Binance to finance the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk.
After its launch in July 2017, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange was able to raise $15 million in an initial coin offering, and trading began on the exchange eleven days later. In less than eight months, Zhao grew Binance into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, as of April 2018.
