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Pakistan has officially launched a crypto testing framework for regulated digital assets.
In a statement on the 20th of February, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) said it will soon announce full guidelines for potential issuers who wish to participate in the ‘sandbox.’
Part of the statement read,
“The Sandbox creates a live, supervised environment for testing real-world use cases, including tokenization, stablecoins, remittances, and on- and off-ramp infrastructure under regulatory oversight.”
Source: X
Stablecoins have gone mainstream, while tokenized markets are picking up steam, now worth $25 billion.
The U.S, U.K., EU, UAE, Hong Kong, and others have rolled out crypto regulatory frameworks or are working towards one.
With crypto’s mainstream momentum becoming inevitable, Pakistan unveiled plans to gradually join major jurisdictions in offering regulatory clarity for the sector. In this ambitious goal, the country tapped Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) as a strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC).
The regulatory sandbox was first announced in mid-2025 to test the budding sector before finally approving it. Fast forward to 2026, and the framework is now live, bringing the country closer to regulatory clarity.
That said, the progress could help unlock the sector that has seen tremendous growth and adoption among Pakistani people. According to Chainalysis, Pakistan ranked second, after India, in crypto adoption across the APAC region in 2025. Globally, it was the third after India and the U.S.
In January, Pakistan announced a partnership with Donald Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI), adding that,
“It will explore innovation in digital finance, particularly the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions, signalling growing global interest in Pakistan as a key market for digital assets.”
For CZ, however, Pakistan’s bold strategy for the digital assets could pay off quickly in the next few years.
“If we keep moving at this speed in five years, Pakistan will be one of the crypto leaders in the world.”
Already, PVARA had begun issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs), which the regulator said is the first step towards full licensing.
Overall, the sandbox will evaluate compliance weaknesses and various risks like anti-money laundering (AML) gaps. This would help fine-tune rules before full rollout of the framework.
In 1941, two astronauts began the seemingly impossible feat of training a robot to operate a solar energy station in space, one capable of beaming power across the Solar System.
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Of course, this was purely fiction – the dystopian plot of sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov’s short story ‘Reason’. However, less than two decades later, real-life scientists started to wonder whether renewables really could be deployed in outer space.
Last year, researchers at King’s College London found that, by 2050, solar panels in space could reduce Europe’s need for land-based renewable energy by 80 per cent. But, is it really that simple?
Space-based solar power (SBSP) systems comprise a constellation of very large satellites in a high-earth orbit, where the sun is visible over 99 per cent of the time.
These satellites would collect solar power using mirror-like reflectors and beam it to a secure fixed point on Earth (without the help of any robots). Here, it would be converted to electricity and delivered to an energy grid so it could be sent to homes and businesses.
A new study commissioned by the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) suggests that small-scale SBSP could become cost-competitive with other commercial power sources as early as 2040, especially if connected to the grid through existing infrastructure at offshore wind farms, for example.
The world is dragging its heels when it comes to moving away from fossil fuels, despite the boom in renewables.
Transitioning away from oil and gas became a flashpoint discussion at last year’s COP30 climate summit in Belém, despite not being on the official agenda. It saw more than 90 nations backing the idea of a roadmap that allows each country to set out its own targets to phase out fossil fuels – but all mention of this was scrubbed from the final deal.
Still, for the first time ever, wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels in the EU in 2025 – while fossil power has declined from 36.7 per cent to 29 per cent of the bloc’s electricity mix.
“All renewable energy technologies will have a part to play in tackling climate change, especially as energy demand is expected to double by 2050,” Dr Adam Law, a research associate in the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) at Loughborough University, tells Euronews Green.
Renewables face intermittency problems for a plethora of reasons, including weather conditions and Europe’s outdated grid. It’s why Britain wasted a staggering £1.47 billion (approximately €1.67bn) by turning off wind turbines (curtailment) and paying gas plants to switch on.
“SBSP benefits from there being a lot more sunlight available in space – 1,367 W/m2 of uninterrupted sunlight, compared to a maximum of 1,000 W/m2 at the equator and an average of about 100 W/m2 in the UK, and satellites in the right orbit see the sun almost all the time,” Law adds.
On the ground, solar is considered the world’s cheapest power source. In the sunniest countries, solar costs as little as €0.023 to produce one unit of power – and installation is much cheaper (and quicker) compared to renewables like wind.
But taking the tech out into space won’t be cheap. Recent reports suggest the development of SBSP is anticipated to require €15.8 billion of research and development over four phases to achieve the first gigawatt-scale prototype in-orbit.
“The scale of launching and building these structures in space is immense, so initial costs will be high,” says Law.
However, launch costs have come down “dramatically” to help make SBSP more economically feasible. Law says this is mainly driven by SpaceX and the advent of reusable rockets.
“Driving these costs down is key to realising SBSP,” he adds, noting that making solar cells both affordable and radiation-resistant will be another crucial factor.
While many startups such as Space Solar in the UK and Virtus Solis in the US are developing SBSP systems thanks to government and private funding, maintaining them will also be no easy feat – especially if things go wrong.
“There is the potential for increased orbital debris, so systems will have to be designed with these factors in mind, for example, by using highly modular designs,” Law adds.
The safety of the power beam is another risk to consider. But Law argues its intensity is low enough to prevent harm to humans and wildlife.
Overall, bringing SBSP to life “will be difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing,” he adds.
Of course, sending satellites into space also poses environmental concerns.
In 2024, the American space agency NASA warned that SBSP may produce greenhouse gas emissions comparable to existing renewable energy systems – but fewer emissions than fossil fuels.
SBSP systems could easily become a target for hostile states who want to damage, degrade or deny a rival’s ability to deliver power. Even plans to construct a fleet of offshore windfarms in the North Sea that connect to multiple European countries have sparked concerns of being “attractive for sabotage”.
While fossil fuel plants have long been considered vulnerable to attacks, a 2023 investigation by public broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland discovered that Russia had a programme to sabotage wind farms and communication cables in the North Sea.
It found Russia has a fleet of vessels that are disguised as fishing trawlers and research boats that are carrying out underwater surveillance and mapping key sites for possible sabotage.
“Like other critical national infrastructure, it is a tempting target for cybercriminals, state-sponsored actors, and hacktivists seeking to cause disruption or gain geopolitical advantage,” says Frazer-Nash, a consultancy company that released a report on SBSP’s security challenges last year.
The report highlights the need to design solar power satellites with “inherent security and comprehensive risk mitigation strategies” from the outset.
This includes building multinational partnerships and agreements to share energy and enhance security, continuous threat monitoring, and ensuring supply chains demonstrate a “robust” cybersecurity arrangement.
“Failing to address key areas of security and risk in the early development stages could limit its tantalising potential before it’s begun,” Frazer-Nash states.
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A vendor arranges tomatoes on his pushcart. The kitchen essential was selling on pushcarts for Rs400-450 and in supermarkets at Rs550-580 due to short supply in the market. Photo: Jalal Qureshi/Express
Short-term inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), recorded a year-on-year increase of 5.19% for the week ended February 19, 2026, reflecting increasing pressure from food staples and household energy tariffs despite notable declines in several perishable commodities, official data showed on Friday.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the combined SPI rose to 335.67 points compared to 319.12 points in the corresponding week of last year, while also registering a 1.16% week-on-week increase, which signalled a renewed uptick in consumer prices for essential goods after a brief easing earlier this month.
The annual SPI rise was largely driven by sharp increases in key food items and utility charges. Tomato prices surged 85.2% year-on-year, followed by wheat flour (31.33%), gas charges for the first consumption slab (29.85%) and electricity tariffs (17.33%).
Other notable increases included bananas (15.83%), red chilli powder (15.2%), beef (13.28%) and liquefied petroleum gas (12.22%), highlighting the broad-based nature of cost pressures on household consumption baskets.
Conversely, several essential food items posted substantial annual declines, partially offsetting the inflationary impact. Potato prices dropped 45.43% year-on-year, garlic (27.51%), gram pulse (23.3%), chicken (19.36%) and onions (18.1%), which reflected improved supply conditions and base effects from last year’s price spikes.
On a weekly basis, the SPI accelerated mainly due to higher prices of fresh produce and administered energy costs. Bananas recorded a steep 16.05% week-on-week increase, while electricity charges rose 15.41%, followed by garlic (5.86%), chicken (5.49%), onions (3.83%) and tomatoes (3.82%). Fuel rate adjustments also contributed, with diesel and petrol climbing 2.69% and 1.93%, respectively.
PBS data showed that out of 51 essential items, prices of 17 items (33.3%) increased, 12 items (23.5%) decreased and 22 items (43.1%) remained unchanged during the week, indicating that inflationary momentum was concentrated in a limited but high-weight segment of the consumption basket.
Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC), Pakistan’s leading exploration and production company, on Friday announced a significant oil and gas discovery at its exploratory well Baragzai X-01 (Slant), located in Kohat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
This is the second consecutive hydrocarbon discovery for the company as a day ago it found gas and condensate at Dars West-3 well located in Tando Allah Yar district of Sindh.
The fresh discovery has been made over Lumshiwal Formation covered by Nashpa exploration licence. During Cased Hole Drill Stem Test (CHDST-04) conducted in Hangu and Lumshiwal formations, the well produced 225 barrels of oil per day and 1.01 million standard cubic feet per day of gas through a 32/64-inch choke at wellhead flow pressure of 190 pounds per square inch.
Baragzai X-01 (Slant) was drilled on December 30, 2024 as an exploratory well to assess the hydrocarbon potential of multiple formations, including Lockhart, Hangu, Lumshiwal, Samana Suk, Shinawari, Datta and Kingriali. The well was successfully drilled to a total depth of 5,170 metres into Kingriali Formation.
Based on wireline log evaluations, three earlier Cased Hole Drill Stem Tests were conducted in Kingriali, Datta and Samana Suk plus Shinawari formations, which had also resulted in oil and gas discoveries. The latest test over Lumshiwal further confirms the commercial viability and hydrocarbon prospects of the block.
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Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital hedge fund said it would offer to buy shares of three Blue Owl funds at steep discounts at a time when the $307bn private credit group is seeking to shore up confidence in a crucial retail debt vehicle.
Saba said on Friday that it would launch a so-called tender offer for investors to sell it their shares in Blue Owl Capital Corporation II, which permanently halted redemptions earlier this week, and two other funds at prices 20 to 35 per cent below their net asset value.
The move would allow investors in the funds to cash out, although they would realise significant losses in the process.
The offer from Saba comes at a turbulent period for Blue Owl and the wider $2tn private credit industry.
Blue Owl has faced a bout of withdrawals from a handful of its funds. Investors and analysts are also raising questions about the futures of the software companies large private credit groups have been lending to as advances in AI threaten their business models.
Blue Owl earlier this week said it would sell $1.4bn of loans from three of its funds, including Blue Owl Capital Corporation II, known by its ticker OBDC II, to return capital to investors and dial back leverage on the funds.
The loans were sold at 99.7 per cent of their stated value, which Blue Owl said pointed to the strength of its portfolio and could be used to return up to 30 per cent of the fund’s value to investors.
Weinstein said the tender offer would “help retail investors navigate this challenging period”, adding in a post on X that more details would be available soon.
“With rising redemptions and limited liquidity, private [business development companies] and intervals funds are facing one of their toughest periods yet — leaving many investors with limited options,” he added, referring to vehicles that typically lend to riskier mid-size companies, often backed by private equity.
Saba said it was also offering to buy shares in Blue Owl Technology Income Corp and Blue Owl Credit Income Corp, known by the tickers OTIC and OCIC, respectively. Blue Owl has continued to allow redemptions on those funds even as withdrawal requests have risen sharply above thresholds that would allow the asset manager to limit outflows.
Cox Capital Management, a financial firm that specialises in high-net-worth investors, has teamed up with Saba for the tender offer.
Tender offers like the one Saba proposed on Friday have occasionally been proposed during previous times of stress for credit markets, and they are often viewed as predatory, given the large concessions they seek. The tenders can also undermine investor confidence in the stated net asset value of a fund, say industry participants.
Saba’s offer amounts to a discount relative to a deal Blue Owl sought to pursue for its OBDC II fund in November, when it planned to merge it with a larger publicly traded credit fund managed by Blue Owl.
The transaction was ultimately scrapped after the FT reported that investors in OBDC II would face a 20 per cent hit.
Blue Owl’s shares have fallen more than 10 per cent since the private investment manager said on Wednesday that investors would no longer be able to withdraw cash from OBDC II and instead receive periodic distributions from asset sales. The company’s shares are down 28 per cent this year.
Blue Owl did not respond to a request for comment.
Craig Packer, Blue Owl’s co-president, defended the company’s decision to sell loans and return capital to investors. He told CNBC on Friday that investors in the fund “think what we’re doing is quite attractive”.
“We wanted to accelerate the return of capital to investors so we opportunistically chose to sell a fairly sizeable chunk, it’s about 35 per cent of the fund OBDC II,” he said.
Saba is known for making bets on dislocations in the credit market, but also wages high-profile activist campaigns against closed-end funds. In 2012, Weinstein minted his reputation on Wall Street and made a fortune by trading against a JPMorgan credit derivatives trader known as “the London Whale”.
Saba partner Kieran Goodwin earlier this month warned that the uptick in redemptions across so-called business development companies — a vehicle favoured for holding private loans — would lead investment firms to either limit withdrawals or sell down their portfolios of loans.
“Selling assets to meet redemptions would only cause redemptions to further increase,” he wrote in a post on X, without naming any companies or vehicles. “The loans are marked at 100 but a great bid for a private loan would be in low 90s.”
Saba declined to comment to the FT on its strategy beyond its statement on Friday and social media posts.
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