Bitcoin has been incorporated into discussions on digital public infrastructure, with institutional narratives shifting from speculation to utility.

Written by: Frank Corva, Forbes

Translated by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News

At the United Nations, Bitcoin is rarely placed on the main table alone. On September 21, during the "Digital Cooperation Day" 2026 held in New York, a special session was set up for blockchain and tokenized assets. The event was hosted by the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies and took place during the high-level week of the General Assembly. Representatives from both public and private sectors view Bitcoin as a tool for financial inclusion and also as a strategic asset. The focus in the venue is not on price fluctuations, but rather on whether developing countries can integrate this set of tools into their national digital public infrastructure.

The theme of the session is "The Future of Blockchain and Tokenization: Sovereign Choices and Protections for Next-Generation Digital Public Infrastructure," with a strong policy tone. The UN's public list shows that Jeremy Almond, CEO of Paystand, and Bilal Ben Saqib, Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority and Minister of State, attended the discussion. Joining them were Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Circle founder Jeremy Allaire, Ella Zhang from YZi Labs, as well as government officials such as Tanzania's Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Singapore's Permanent Representative to the UN. The lineup itself indicates that the discussion is no longer just about exchanges and fund managers, but also includes finance ministries, regulatory authorities, and those responsible for building national digital frameworks.

Autonomy, Not Blood Transfusions

Almond described Bitcoin as a catalyst for advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the meeting. His core concern is not "will it go up if I buy it," but rather "who has the capacity to act." Charity can provide money and projects, but it does not necessarily leave behind a functional local system. He advocates for using Bitcoin and tokenized tools to create economic autonomy: receiving payments, saving, and local circulation, minimizing reliance on bank branches that do not reach villages. This aligns with his ideas expressed the previous year at the General Assembly surrounding "Bitcoin circular economy" — first enabling money to circulate locally, then discussing grander goals.

Ben Saqib's attendance brought the discussion back to the national context. Pakistan, with a population of over 230 million, has limited rural bank penetration, where identity, land, and micro-payments are often stuck in offline procedures. For a country like this, blockchain financial infrastructure is not just a theoretical exercise. Pakistan has also promoted global rules for digital assets in UN forums in recent years, clearly linking it to sustainable development goals. The simultaneous presence of the Finance Minister and the Chairman of the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority at relevant segments effectively laid out the questions of "should we regulate, how to regulate, and can it be used afterwards."

The session's discussions repeatedly revolved around two key terms: interoperability and sovereign choice. Interoperability refers to the need for systems to be able to connect; otherwise, cross-border settlements, identity verification, and tokenized assets remain isolated. Sovereign choice means retaining rights within the country, not simply importing frameworks designed for another type of economy. For the Global South, this is very practical: the licensing logic from Washington or Brussels may not be able to align with the local cash economy and weak banking networks.

The UN is Not Suddenly Focusing on Crypto

In 2024, the General Assembly passed the "Global Digital Compact," incorporating digital public goods, digital public infrastructure, digital transformation, and open-source into a common framework. In 2025, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Tech Envoy was restructured into the Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies. Digital Cooperation Day serves as a venue to push the compact toward implementation, with a continued focus on AI governance, skills, and cross-border sandboxes. The separate session on blockchain implies that tokenization has been included in the "next generation DPI" menu, rather than being just an external noise.

More substantive discussions occurred earlier at the legal level. In February, the Bitcoin Policy Institute participated in UN discussions at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law regarding digital trade and finance, with the core question being: how does existing trade law define digital assets, and how does control constitute property rights and priorities. Without these definitions, tokenized bonds, on-chain invoices, and cross-border guarantees would struggle to enter formal contracts. The UN Development Program has also conducted pilot projects and research on distributed ledgers, covering traditional bureaucratic systems where weaknesses exist in land registration, identity verification, and more. Digital Cooperation Day aims to advance the discussion from "can it be used" to "who sets the rules and how to mitigate risks."

Having the founder of Circle appear in the same session also brought the topic of stablecoins into play. If sovereign choice is to be realized, many governments are more likely to first engage with tokenized tools linked to fiat currencies before determining how significant a role Bitcoin will play in reserves, exchanges or private savings. Corva's mention of "strategic assets" refers to the tone of the discussion, not that member states have collectively included BTC in their reserve lists.

Boundaries Must Be Clearly Defined

The UN has not recognized Bitcoin as an official reserve asset, nor suggested that national treasuries purchase Bitcoin. Institutions have framed discussions within application scenarios, infrastructure, and risk protection. Protection signifies anti-money laundering, consumer protection, and cross-border regulatory arbitrage, concerns that will not vanish due to a side meeting. The real change is in the atmosphere: Bitcoin is mentioned positively in events surrounding the General Assembly and is linked to financial inclusion in the Global South. A few years ago, more common official discourse focused on speculation, energy consumption, and financial stability risks. Now, risks remain on the agenda, but uses have been allowed to step onto the stage.

Pakistan deserves individual attention. The Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority is still building a framework that balances "innovation and consumer protection." The Chairman's ability to participate in the UN session indicates that Islamabad seeks to be involved in rule-making rather than merely copying structures. For the market, a side event does not change daily pricing. The mid-term outlook hinges on three issues: whether digital public infrastructure will integrate Bitcoin, stablecoins, and tokenized assets into the national system; how far legal definitions of "control" and cross-border recognition will advance; and whether pilot projects by development institutions will evolve from white papers into replicable payment and verification networks.

The entry point has shifted from market tracking websites to policy venues. The next step is not to see who shouts "Bitcoin changes the world," but to observe whether any country genuinely incorporates settlements, identities, and property registrations into this pathway.