has allocated 2,000 megawatts of electricity in the first phase of a national push to support Bitcoin mining and AI data centres, as the country moves to legalise cryptocurrency and attract foreign investments.The initiative, led by the Pakistan Crypto Council, will also help monetise surplus energy and create high-tech jobs, the finance ministry said in a statement. Coal-based power projects like Sahiwal, China Hub, and Port Qasim, currently operating at 15% capacity, are among those expected to be repurposed for this effort, the ministry said.

Pakistan’s federal government is seeking investments to bolster an economy that narrowly avoided default in 2023. With an estimated 15-20 million crypto users, the country aims to establish a regulatory framework to boost its local ecosystem and attract global capital.

In April, it roped in Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, to set up a digital finance platform. The Crypto Council has also signed an initial pact with US President Donald Trump’s crypto project to accelerate blockchain innovation.

The country has attracted interest from global crypto miners and data infrastructure firms, according to the finance ministry statement, which didn’t disclose specific names.