Pakistan

A 2021 cryptocurrency-adoption peak has given way to coverage of Pakistan’s tighter digital controls, China-linked surveillance infrastructure, and renewed crypto-finance experimentation.

Who they are

Pakistan appears in technology coverage as a large, strategically consequential digital market whose government decisions shape platform access, communications privacy, fintech adoption and online speech. Stories place it alongside India and other Asian markets for consumer-product rollouts, while also linking it to Chinese technology suppliers, U.S. political and crypto actors, and major platforms including TikTok, BlackBerry, Netflix and OpenAI.

The recent arc

Coverage peaked in 2021Q3 around Chainalysis reports naming Pakistan among the countries leading a 881% year-over-year increase in global crypto adoption, alongside Vietnam and India. Earlier reporting had centered on state access to communications: BlackBerry initially said it would leave after rejecting data-monitoring demands, then remained after authorities dropped those demands; Pakistan also lifted a TikTok ban after the company agreed to moderation assurances.

The recent arc

The latest phase is more sharply focused on digital control and the contested economics of access. Pakistan suspended mobile services during the February 2024 election, parliament passed a social-media-control bill in January 2025, and Reuters and Wired reported in September on alleged mass phone tapping and Chinese-built, Great Firewall-style monitoring systems supplied by Geedge Networks. Alongside that clampdown, the country remains a target market: OpenAI added it to the ChatGPT Go rollout, while ZAR raised funding to test USD-backed stablecoins there, citing the World Bank’s assessment of a very large unbanked population. Careem’s decision to suspend its Pakistan service illustrates the pressure on consumer internet businesses from competition, economic conditions and capital constraints.

The tension

Pakistan’s coverage repeatedly turns on the conflict between expanding digital participation and state control over the networks enabling it. The same market that attracted crypto-adoption attention, low-cost AI products and stablecoin pilots has imposed platform-content requirements and faced reports of broad surveillance infrastructure tied to Chinese providers. Its crypto outreach to World Liberty Financial and engagement with U.S. actors adds another layer: financial-technology ambitions are being pursued amid scrutiny of political influence, regulation and information controls.

Why it matters

If this trajectory persists, Pakistan could become an important test case for whether fintech and AI services can scale in a populous, underbanked market where network governance is becoming more restrictive. ZAR’s local stablecoin test and OpenAI’s regional expansion point to continued commercial interest, but Careem’s exit and the surveillance and social-media reports suggest that operating conditions may determine which services can sustain investment and user trust. The outcome remains uncertain because the corpus shows both demand-side opportunity and material policy, security and economic constraints.

Related: India · Careem · BlackBerry · BlackBerry Confirms It Will Exit Pakistan After Rejecting Data Monitor · Chainalysis: global cryptocurrency adoption grew 881% YoY, led by Viet