Pakistan Partners with Trump-Linked DeFi Project for Stablecoin Remittances

The agreement, signed with SC Financial Technologies—described as an affiliated entity of World Liberty Financial—centers on exploring the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions. According to Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Pakistan VARA), the MOU reflects “growing global interest in Pakistan as a key market for digital assets.” The core objective is to modernize the country’s payments system and reduce its heavy reliance on cash. Remittances are a vital economic lifeline, with Pakistan receiving more than $36 billion annually from overseas workers. Officials view blockchain technology as a pathway to making these transfers significantly cheaper and faster.

This initiative is part of a broader, coordinated effort to build a regulated digital-payments infrastructure. The State Bank of Pakistan is concurrently preparing a pilot for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and finalizing legislation to govern virtual assets. Pakistan VARA has positioned the country as a large potential crypto market, citing an estimated 40 million users. Under the arrangement, SC Financial Technologies will work directly with the central bank to integrate World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin into a regulated payments framework, allowing it to operate alongside Pakistan’s own forthcoming digital currency systems.

World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project at the heart of this partnership, was launched in September 2024 by President Trump’s three sons alongside the two sons of Steve Witkoff, a U.S. special envoy and longtime Trump associate. The project’s website lists both Trump and the elder Witkoff as “co-founder emeritus,” with a footnote stating they were “removed upon taking office.” A statement on the site asserts that Trump and his family members do not hold any formal role in the firm. The project’s USD1 stablecoin has already been used in substantial international deals, including a $2 billion equity purchase in Binance by Abu Dhabi state-backed investor MGX in May 2024.

Pakistan’s outreach to the venture follows a diplomatic and lobbying push in Washington last year, where Islamabad hired a U.S. lobbyist to attract American investment. Ties were solidified when World Liberty Financial co-founder and CEO Zach Witkoff, who is also CEO of SC Financial Technologies, visited Pakistan. Shortly after that visit, Bilal Bin Saqib, the chairman of Pakistan VARA, became an adviser to World Liberty Financial in April 2025. Bin Saqib, who also serves as special assistant to the prime minister on blockchain and crypto and chief adviser to the finance minister, has been a driving force behind Pakistan’s crypto hub ambitions, which include allocating electricity for mining and courting industry figures.

This pattern of aligning with advisers’ affiliated companies is evident elsewhere. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who received a presidential pardon from Trump after a prison sentence for violating anti-money laundering laws, joined the Pakistan Crypto Council as an adviser in April 2025. Subsequently, in December 2025, Pakistan signed an MOU with Binance to explore tokenizing up to $2 billion in sovereign bonds, treasury bills, and commodity reserves. Binance and HTX both received no-objection certificates to operate in the country the same month.

The partnership has drawn significant scrutiny due to World Liberty Financial’s links to the Trump family at a time when President Trump oversees U.S. crypto policy. Critics have raised accusations of potential conflicts of interest. In November 2025, a partisan report from House Judiciary Committee Democrats accused Trump of turning the White House into “the world’s most corrupt crypto startup operation.” The report alleged that “foreign actors and corporate interests” had funneled money into Trump family crypto ventures, including World Liberty Financial, in return for “regulatory rollbacks” and “policy giveaways.” The White House has previously denied any conflicts of interest exist.

For Pakistan, the potential technological and economic benefits of cheaper remittances and modernized finance are weighed against the geopolitical optics of partnering with a venture so closely associated with the sitting U.S. president’s family. The deal underscores the complex intersection of digital finance, international diplomacy, and regulatory oversight in an emerging market aggressively pursuing crypto innovation.