Crypto has often been touted as a gateway to financial independence; through smart investments in these blockchain-driven digital currencies, influencers across social media platforms touted it as a ticket to financial freedom. However, despite Pakistan being the 3rd strongest country in the world in terms of crypto adoption, online scams and financial frauds have overwhelmed the crypto community. The absence of regulatory frameworks that can monitor the large number of platforms along which demand for crypto assets is fragmented, and social media platform negligence remain two significant obstacles to creating a healthy investment environment for crypto-related assets. 

Pakistani investors have identified pump and dump schemes, chargeback scams, seed phrase theft, celebrity impersonation on social media, and misleading sponsorships as some of the channels through which crypto-related scams take place. Individuals have reported losses of up to Rs 1 million, and the state has not yet delivered on appropriate security or capacity building measures to limit the frequency with which scammer networks have begun to dominate the crypto space.