The term 'crypto-diplomatic bet' describes a strategic alignment between Pakistan and World Liberty Financial (WLF). WLF is a crypto venture co-founded by Donald Trump and majority-owned by his sons, Eric and Donald Jr. In January 2026, Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding with a WLF affiliate. The goal was to explore integrating the USD1 stablecoin into its financial infrastructure.
Bilal Bin Saqib brokered the deal. He served as an adviser to WLF and chair of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. Key participants from Pakistan included Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The WLF delegation was led by CEO Zachary Witkoff, son of US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
The agreement aimed to explore using the USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments. It has resulted in no pilot projects, no issued licenses, and no actual transactions. Analysts characterize the arrangement as a successful tool for Islamabad to gain rare, direct access to the Trump administration rather than a functional economic policy. This strategy successfully facilitated Pakistan's role as a mediator in US-Iran tensions and the negotiation of an Iran ceasefire. It served as a transactional exchange for high-level diplomatic engagement.
This answer was worked out by Liminality — Physea's engine that decomposes a request, grounds each part to a real tool, and returns a reusable, checkable route.
Connect it over MCP: https://mcp.physea.ai/mcp · physea.ai