The Irony: Pakistan Already Solved Half the Problem
Pakistan successfully:
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Digitized banking
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Scaled mobile wallets
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Normalized IBFT and Raast
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Enabled crypto onramps (informally)
Yet capital markets remained stuck in a 1990s compliance mindset.
This is not a technology problem.
It is a regulatory imagination problem.
What Reforms Would Actually Move the Needle
Forget slogans. These are the real levers:
1. Single Investor Identity
One digital investor ID usable across all brokers.
2. Bank-First KYC
If a bank verifies you, brokers should accept it.
3. Instant Sahulat Accounts
True instant — not “one week later”.
4. Broker Portability
Change brokers without reopening accounts.
5. Exchange-Level Retail App
PSX must own the front end, not just infrastructure.
6. CGT Rationalization
High friction plus high taxes kills adoption.
Why Crypto Won — And Why Stocks Still Matter More
Crypto attracted users through:
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Speed
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Optionality
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Speculation
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Global narratives
But stocks offer:
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Ownership
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Cash flows
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Dividends
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Governance
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Economic linkage
The tragedy is that Pakistanis are speculating globally while owning nothing locally.
That is a capital formation failure.
