USA or Pakistan: Which Crypto Strategy Will Win?

In March 2025, two countries announced their ambitions to become leaders in the cryptocurrency space: the United States and Pakistan. Both have established dedicated bodies tasked with building the necessary framework for this initiative.

However, the approaches differ significantly. In the U.S., authorities state they intend to leverage Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, Ripple for optimizing government payments, Solana for voting mechanisms and digital identity management, and Cardano for secure smart contracts.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has formed what they call a "Crypto Council," with a stated goal of "making digital currencies a legal tender in Pakistan." However, their approach is markedly different. The right to issue digital currencies is to be granted exclusively to the Central Bank, and any unauthorized issuance will incur a fine twice the value of the unauthorized emission. The Central Bank itself has publicly opposed uncontrolled digital currencies, and in its public statements, it places Bitcoin and Litecoin in the same category as outright fraudulent projects like OneCoin.

Which path is more likely to lead to cryptocurrency leadership?

Leadership means being followed. But what country would voluntarily adopt a model that involves government transactions recorded on a public ledger, digital IDs and voting mechanisms on an immutable blockchain, and unstoppable smart contract execution? Likely none. Meanwhile, Pakistan's approach, if successful, could inspire other countries seeking a more controlled and government-centric approach to cryptocurrency adoption. For this reason, I believe Pakistan may have better odds of influencing others.

I hope I'm wrong. After all, Rabbit Swap, as a participant in the crypto economy supporting exchanges between over 8,000 cryptocurrencies, would naturally prefer a scenario where cryptocurrencies are integrated into everyday life rather than declared unlawful financial instruments.