Pakistan Strikes Deal with Trump-Linked Firm to Pilot Stablecoin for Cross-Border Payments

TL;DR

• Pakistan partners with a Trump-linked firm to test a cross-border stablecoin.
• The pilot will use a dollar-pegged token called USD1.
• The system will operate under the central bank’s regulated framework.

The government of Pakistan has confirmed an agreement with SC Financial Technologies, a digital payments firm. The partnership will explore using a dollar-pegged stablecoin, called USD1, for cross-border transactions. The system would operate under a regulated framework overseen by the Asian nation’s central bank.

This collaboration stands out as one of the first publicly known agreements between a state administration and a cryptocurrency initiative connected to the Trump family. SC Financial Technologies is part of World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance protocol founded by members of that family.

Sources close to the matter, who requested anonymity because the terms are not public, indicated World Liberty Financial will work with the State Bank of Pakistan. The specific goal is to integrate the USD1 stablecoin into a regulated digital payments platform. The token is designed to function within the country’s new digital currency system and streamline operations like international remittances.

Pakistani officials did not disclose the specific details of the arrangement

For its part, SC Financial Technologies maintains sparse information about its general operations. Reports note the deal would be made official during the visit of Zach Witkoff, co-founder and chief executive of World Liberty, to Islamabad on Wednesday, January 14. Witkoff also heads SC Financial Technologies.

The World Liberty firm has drawn attention for its involvement in large-scale operations. Analysts point to the example of the purchase of a stake in the Binance exchange by the investment group MGX, based in the United Arab Emirates, in May of last year. In that transaction, MGX used stablecoins owned by World Liberty to finance part of the two-billion-dollar deal.

This is part of a broader plan by Pakistan to establish itself as a global hub for digital assets. The country is advancing rapidly in developing its digital finance infrastructure. To bolster its proposal in the stablecoin sector, World Liberty launched a platform this week called World Liberty Markets.

This expands the functions of USD1, allowing holders to use the stablecoin as collateral to access loans. The platform also accepts Ether, tokenized Bitcoin, and other major stablecoins as collateral.