On January 14, 2026, Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SC Financial Technologies LLC, an affiliate of World Liberty Financial (WLF) — widely described as a Trump family-linked crypto venture.
The MoU aims to explore “digital finance innovation,” including potential use of USD1, described as a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin for cross-border flows.
Media coverage and official statements identify Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Zachary Witkoff as signatories.
This wasn’t a casual meeting.
It was state signaling. Unlike before when Miftah did not answer Web 3.0 question.
The Missing Context: Big Tech Is Already Eating Banking Alive
Before we argue about USD1, we need to understand what “banking” even means in 2026.
Banking is no longer a building.
Banking is:
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identity
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payments
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settlement
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compliance
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data
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cloud infrastructure
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and distribution
And Big Tech already controls half of that stack.
Meta/Facebook didn’t “talk” about banking — it got regulated access
Meta’s payments arm in Europe received an e-money license in Ireland, allowing it to issue e-money and provide payment services across the EU framework.
That’s not a meme. That’s regulatory entry.
Google is not a “bank” — but it doesn’t need to be
Google operates deep in merchant payments, payouts, and onboarding frameworks via Google Pay/Payments, which is infrastructure.
Amazon and Microsoft dominate the “pipes” finance runs on
US policy research has highlighted how Amazon, Microsoft, and Google account for a massive share of cloud services used by financial institutions.
And in late 2025, EU regulators designated Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft among the “critical” tech providers under DORA — basically acknowledging:
If these platforms go down, finance goes down.
So yes — the future of banking is being written by tech companies, even if the logo on the door still says “Bank.”
