CoinPayments Signals Continued Growth Ambitions in Pakistan with Key Business Development Appointment

CoinPayments, the world’s leading cryptocurrency payment processor, announced the appointment of industry veteran Fahad Shahab as Business Development Leader for Pakistan. Mr. Shahab will bring his extensive digital payments and financial services experience to CoinPayments’ global business development and partnerships team, helping build brand presence in Pakistan’s emerging crypto ecosystem.

While cryptocurrency adoption continues to surge around the world, analysts are seeing that developing nations are setting the pace when it comes to crypto implementation and development. The widely used Global Crypto Adoption Index published by Chainalysis ranks Pakistan 15th globally and estimates that the country received around $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency during 2019-20.

“The potential of crypto in Pakistan and other emerging markets is clear,” said Jason Butcher, CEO of CoinPayments. “We believe that CoinPayments is perfectly positioned to help bring cryptocurrency to the masses, particularly underbanked communities who are looking for alternative ways to protect their personal wealth. We are thrilled to welcome Fahad to help us build our presence in Pakistan, and look forward to developing new products and services with his expert input.”

A founding member of the 1LINK (National Payment Switch) of Pakistan with almost 20 years’ experience in the payments industry, Mr. Shahab was the first person in Pakistan to achieve the Certified Digital Finance Practitioner (CDFP) qualification from Fletcher School Tufts University and DFI (Digital Frontiers Institute), and has strong domain knowledge of payment systems both from the technical and business perspectives. His considerable industry experience includes working with multinational banks, financial services providers and global payment brands to build the infrastructure for a digital ecosystem in Pakistan.

“I am excited to be part of the CoinPayments team, and to continue designing the new digital economy in Pakistan,” said Mr. Shahab. “My work is motivated by the potential for humanity to create more inclusive economic systems which promote equality and advancement for all. I believe that digital money can unlock this positive future, and that CoinPayments can help make this a reality,” he added.

“For emerging markets like Pakistan, financial and gender inclusion are significant challenges we must work together as a society to overcome. In my role with CoinPayments, I believe that we can collaborate with banks, telcos, fintechs and merchants across the region to help them address these challenges; offering inclusive and accessible solutions to make crypto payments easy.”