Despite a more positive scenario in the last weeks for the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) against the US dollar (USD) in the forex market, PKR has lost half of its purchasing power against Bitcoin (BTC) in 2023.
Data retrieved by Finbold from CoinMarketCap’s price index shows 1 BTC being traded at close to Rs3.77 million on January 1, for a 99% price appreciation from the leading cryptocurrency to the legal tender currency in Pakistan, now changing hands at Rs7.51 million per Bitcoin by press time.
In this context, Bitcoin can also be considered as a valuable index in the financial market, due to its characteristics of a global and supranational peer-to-peer electronic cash system, which has also been used as a store of value versus weaker assets and currencies. And BTC is doubling down in value against the Pakistani Rupee.
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Notably, the highest surge happened during the first quarter of 2023, with a first local high being set for Bitcoin in April, and a second one in July. However, the trend has slightly changed since then, with PKR recovering part of its value against BTC, as it also left the USD behind.
Should Pakistan adopt Bitcoin or USD to avoid the loss of its people’s purchasing power with PKR?
Meanwhile, recent developments in the country started changing the value perception of the Pakistani Rupee, after Pakistan secured a crucial $3 billion capital inflow from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), registering over 6% in gains against the US Dollar in the last month.
Interestingly, there are clear signals of crypto adoption going on in this South Asian country, as Pakistan is the third largest country by cryptocurrency owners in the world, according to data retrieved by Finbold from Triple-A.
There are 26 million declared crypto holders in Pakistan, only behind the 46 million from the United States, and slightly behind India’s 27 million investors.
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