Digital gold rush: A high-stakes gamble in a fragile economy

I used to walk an hour to work every day because I couldn’t afford any form of transportation,” said Ashraf*, who earns around minimum income while trading in cryptocurrencies on the side. Showing photos of his brand new Kia Sportage worth Rs9 million ($32,000), Ashraf proudly talks about his new three-story home and the state-of-the-art solar system he has installed, all courtesy of his investments in cryptocurrency. He started investing when Bitcoin was a mere $700 with a wallet of just $1. Ashraf’s story is just one example of how many Pakistanis, driven by the need for wealth preservation in a volatile economy, are turning to cryptocurrencies. Given that crypto trading is not legal in Pakistan, most of the activity takes place on peer-to-peer exchanges, such as Binance, with information being shared in groups on less-widely used apps such as Telegram. With the uncertainty surrounding the recent arrest of Telegram’s co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov, the app Signal is being touted as a strongly encrypted alternative.