Crypto arms race

On March 6, President Donald Trump made history by signing an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile. On March 7, he doubled down, hosting the first-ever White House Crypto Summit -- a groundbreaking event that signaled America’s bold pivot toward crypto supremacy.

The cold-war arms race of 1947-1991 wielded a formidable quintet: Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCMs), radar-evading stealth technology, and hardened silos. Today’s crypto arms race counters with its own arsenal of five: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA).

The cold-war arms race cast a menacing shadow of mutually assured destruction over the globe. The crypto arms race now reshapes the global economic battlefield with a formidable arsenal of digital power. Senator Cynthia Lummis (Republican, Wyoming) warns that America’s Bitcoin stockpile -- potentially one million coins -- could rattle Beijing and Moscow, igniting an arms race not of warheads but of blockchain supremacy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fueled this charge, declaring Bitcoin 'unstoppable' -- asserting, 'Who can ban Bitcoin? Nobody' -- underscoring its relentless ascent as a weapon of financial sovereignty in this new arms race.

Not to be outdone, President Xi Jinping is forging China’s own e-yuan, a state-controlled digital salvo aimed at countering President Trump’s crypto dominance. Together, these moves signal a tectonic realignment of economic power, where nations wield blockchain as the new artillery of global influence.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the e-rupee as its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), built on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) -- a permissioned blockchain, unlike Bitcoin’s decentralised public ledger. However, with fewer than five million users, the e-rupee has struggled to gain significant traction.

Global superpowers are weaponising blockchain to assert financial dominance. Question: Can Pakistan afford to be a passive bystander? To be certain, the battlefield is no longer just about missiles and warheads -- it is about digital firepower.

The US, China, and Russia are deploying digital assets as weapons of economic influence. The world is marching towards a new financial order. Trump wants to dominate the decentralised frontier via his ‘Strategic Crypto Reserve’. Putin calls Bitcoin “unstoppable". Xi’s e-yuan is China’s counterstrike. The battle-lines are drawn.

Question: Where does Pakistan stand? Answer: Nowhere (remember, if you are going nowhere, any road will take you there). Our monetary defences remain anchored in a fragile system -- one that keeps us at the mercy of IMF bailouts and dollar dependency. We are fighting 21st-century financial wars with 20th-century tools.

The world is arming itself with cryptographic assets. Pakistan must begin its transition toward digital finance -- or risk being sidelined, both economically and geopolitically. The global financial landscape is being reshaped by crypto and digital currencies, and nations are adapting fast. Pakistan must craft a clear strategy to navigate this digital battleground, recognising the stakes before it's too late.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. He tweets/posts @saleemfarrukh and can be reached at: farrukh15@hotmail.com