Asim Munir’s crypto gamble: Decoding Pakistan’s risky USD1 deal to 'please' Trump

Pakistan has entered uncharted financial territory after signing a crypto-related agreement with a firm linked to US President Donald Trump’s family, raising questions about whether Islamabad is taking outsized risks at a time of deep economic stress.

The agreement involves the potential use of USD1, a US dollar–pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s main crypto venture, for cross-border payments and digital transactions.

What the deal involves

On January 14, Pakistan’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with SC Financial Technologies, described as an “affiliated entity” of World Liberty Financial, to explore the integration of USD1 into Pakistan’s regulated payments ecosystem, according to Reuters.

The deal was signed in the presence of Pakistani army chief and Field Marshal Asim Munir and ISI head Lieutenant General Muhammad Asim Malik. A photograph handout showed World Liberty co-founder and chief executive Zach Witkoff signing the agreement with Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Witkoff is the son of US special envoy and Trump aide Steve Witkoff.

Today, World Liberty Financial signed an MoU with the Ministry of Finance to explore innovation in digital finance, particularly the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions, signalling growing global interest in Pakistan as a key market for digital assets. pic.twitter.com/rYzbfHYysd

— Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@PakistanVARA) January 14, 2026

The presence of Munir and the ISI head again signalled the military establishment's deep penetration across Pakistan's economic decision-making.

Under the agreement, SC Financial will work with Pakistan’s central bank to assess how the stablecoin could function alongside the country’s own digital currency infrastructure, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Aurangzeb framed the move as part of a broader digital finance push. “Our focus is to stay ahead of the curve by engaging with credible global players, understanding new financial models, and ensuring that innovation, where explored, is aligned with regulation, stability, and national interest,” Aurangzeb said.

A politically loaded partnership

The deal marks one of the first publicly announced collaborations between World Liberty Financial and a sovereign state.

World Liberty was launched in September 2024 by Donald Trump and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, along with their sons and partners. While Trump and Witkoff are now listed as “Cofounders Emeritus”, Trump-linked entities reportedly retain a majority economic interest in the business.

According to reports, Trump and his family control about 60% of the company through an LLC that holds 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens and is entitled to 75% of the proceeds from token sales. Trump himself reported earning $57.3 million from the venture in 2024.

Why Pakistan is betting big on crypto

Pakistan's aggressive push into cryptocurrency serves both economic and strategic purposes.

Pakistan has been aggressively exploring digital finance options as it struggles with weak growth, high debt and chronic dollar shortages.

The country receives over $36 billion annually in remittances, has an estimated 40 million crypto users, and reports crypto trading volumes of up to $300 billion per year, according to Pakistani regulators.

Authorities see stablecoins as a potential way to reduce transaction costs and speed up cross-border flows, particularly remittances.

But the timing of the deal has raised eyebrows.

Pakistan’s economy remains fragile, with external debt servicing of $23 billion this fiscal year and heavy reliance on rollovers from China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, according to data cited by Firstpost.

Moreover, Pakistan is also looking to deepen its cooperation with the Trump administration and cryptocurrency is one of the means to achieve these ends. Even during Asim Munir's visit to Washington, where he had lunch with Trump just weeks after Operation Sindoor, the topic of cryptocurrency had come into discussions.

Ethical and financial red flags

However, there are serious ethical concerns as far as Pakistan's crypto push goes.

The USD1 stablecoin is integrated with the Tron blockchain, owned by crypto billionaire Justin Sun, who has previously faced scrutiny from US authorities.

A US Treasury report from 2023 warned that Tron was “growing in popularity among illicit actors”, while TRM Labs found that 58% of all illicit crypto activity in 2024 occurred on the Tron network, Firstpost reported.

There is concern that Pakistan is exposing its financial system to reputational and regulatory risks by aligning with a crypto ecosystem deeply entangled with US domestic politics.

In a report, The New York Times had earlier described World Liberty’s operations as having “eviscerated the boundary between private enterprise and government policy”.

A geopolitical calculation?

David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, suggested the deal had broader strategic implications.

“The agreement reached between the Government of Pakistan and SC Financial Technologies, a sister company of World Liberty Financial, could help ensure that the US dollar will remain the world’s reserve currency,” Wachsman told Reuters.

He added that World Liberty Financial was not receiving financial compensation from the agreement.

Still, analysts note that Pakistan’s outreach comes amid a warming of ties with Washington, and at a time when the Trump administration has rolled back crypto enforcement and introduced regulations favourable to stablecoins.

A risky signal

While Pakistani authorities insist the project is exploratory, the optics are hard to ignore.

For a country dependent on IMF programmes and bilateral lifelines, partnering with a politically connected and controversial crypto firm risks sending a signal of financial desperation masked as innovation.