The Silent Shift: How Crypto Is Reshaping Global Influence -

New Delhi :

In 1974, when India conducted its first nuclear test at Pokhran, it drew condemnation, sanctions, and global isolation. The world perceived India’s move as provocative, destabilizing, and dangerous. But over the years, through strategic clarity and diplomatic negotiation, India reframed its nuclear capability not as a threat, but a necessity. Today, nuclear energy powers Indian cities, anchors our deterrence strategy, and affirms our place in global decision-making. The lesson? Dual-use technologies—those with both civilian and disruptive potential—must be responsibly owned, not indefinitely feared. Now, crypto stands at a similar crossroads. Once dismissed as a speculative asset or a playground for cybercriminals, it is increasingly being recognized as a tool of statecraft and sovereignty.

And while India debates whether to tax it, ban it, or tolerate it, countries like Pakistan are moving to weaponize it through initiatives like the MoU with World Liberty Finance Inc., a crypto venture with reported links to former U.S. President Donald Trump, is aimed at creating a state-aligned digital asset ecosystem. The deal involves establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, designing a stablecoin framework, and tokenising national assets—effectively building a parallel financial infrastructure that operates outside SWIFT, IMF conditionalities, and FATF supervision.

Just as India once chose to own its nuclear capability with safeguards and purpose, it must now do the same with crypto: acknowledge its strategic value, build domestic strength, and lead globally on regulation.

As nations compete for dominance in a rapidly digitizing global order, crypto assets have quietly emerged as a new instrument of geopolitical leverage. No longer confined to retail speculation or fintech disruption, digital assets particularly stablecoins and tokenised assets are being weaponised by state and non-state actors to bypass traditional financial systems, sidestep sanctions, and rewire global payment channels. The latest development out of Pakistan iterates this shift: the country’s formal collaboration with World Liberty Finance Inc. (WLFI), This should concern policymakers across the world and especially in India. The crypto toolkit is now part of a new-era geopolitical strategy: enabling financial resilience, circumventing global scrutiny, and asserting sovereignty in ways that conventional systems do not permit. Pakistan’s move is not isolated. Reports suggest Russia is exploring crypto settlements for oil trades with China and India. Iran and North Korea are similarly believed to be experimenting with crypto rails to bypass global restrictions. These developments represent a dangerous new front in statecraft where blockchain networks, once hailed for their neutrality, are being harnessed as asymmetric tools in economic warfare.

In India’s own history, there is a powerful analogy. When we conducted our first nuclear test in 1974, the global reaction was swift and condemnatory. But over time, the world came to accept India as a responsible nuclear power, anchored by strong safeguards and strategic intent. That same lesson applies today. India must not merely view crypto through the lens of volatility, risk, or non-compliance. Instead, we must recognise its strategic utility and shape a regulatory and technological framework that positions us as a responsible crypto power, not one that lags behind, but one that sets global standards. Dismissing crypto as a tool for speculation or crime alone is reductive. Like nuclear energy, its potential lies in how it is governed, adopted, and aligned with national interests.

The time for ambiguity is over. India must now treat crypto not merely as a financial innovation, but as a strategic asset class. This includes confronting the creeping dollarisation driven by offshore stablecoins, dismantling sanction-evasion architectures built on unregulated wallets, and protecting the integrity of our monetary and regulatory sovereignty. If global power is increasingly determined by control over digital value systems, then crypto must be integrated into India’s larger geopolitical strategy. It is no longer a fringe experiment, it is a new domain of statecraft. And just as we once asserted our strategic intent through the nuclear programme under the code name “Smiling Buddha,” India must now enter the crypto era with the same quiet determination as a confident, rule-shaping power anchored in sovereign interest and global relevance.