Ahmad Manzoor

Pakistan Blockchain Institute technologist

Compiled from 2 recorded interviews. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Ahmad Manzoor is an architect and blockchain technologist who runs the Pakistan Blockchain Institute. He says he has designed large data centres in Pakistan, Dubai and Europe, and has worked on blockchain for four years.

Early life and background

Manzoor says his mother is a doctor and his father is an engineer. He says he had dyslexia as a child. [2]

Education and career

Manzoor studied computer science and says he graduated around 1998 to 2000. He got a job offer on the day of his last university exam. His first job was in networking. [2]

He says networking has been the main focus of his career. He is Cisco certified. He worked at several companies, including Wateen and PTCL. [2]

He says he designed Doha's largest smart city. He says he works mostly in the design phase, on architecture rather than deployment. He says he is not a software engineer and does not code. He also says he became a fitness instructor from Australia. [2]

Blockchain

Manzoor says he began exploring blockchain about four years before he spoke, while returning from Dubai. He is an advisory board member of a large conference and says he represents Pakistan there. [2]

Advisory committee

Manzoor says the KP government did not hire him. He says a committee listed him as a blockchain expert and technologist, not a cryptocurrency expert. He says a friend introduced him as a blockchain expert. [2]

Teaching and conferences

Manzoor says he used to have to travel internationally when he had to give a talk. He says his first conference, in early 2020, had people from all seven continents. He used to travel to Islamabad to teach. He says he teaches in different initiatives, and in a programme where the teaching is free. [2]

Views on bitcoin and cryptocurrency

Manzoor says he has never invested in bitcoin and holds none. He says bitcoin was created in 2008 and 2009. He says bitcoin is not a currency and compares it to bonds or chit funds. He says bitcoin is just exchanging hands, and he calls it a double shah scheme. [2]

He says cryptocurrency has no underlying productive fundamental. He says that whenever someone makes money, someone else has to lose that money. He says productivity has always been important in the Islamic financial system. He says the cryptocurrency bubble will burst, as the IT dot-com bubble did. He says the State Bank and the SECP are the only bodies that regulate currency and financial markets. [2]

Views on blockchain and digital currency

Manzoor says blockchain will fundamentally change people's lives. He says blockchain is certain to be the future, while bitcoin's future as a currency is uncertain. He says blockchain is a network and a technology, not a cryptocurrency. He says a digitised system would remove the need for stamp papers and visits to a patwari. [2]

He says 80 percent of global central banks are now looking at digital currencies. He says China has started a digital yuan in five cities. He says China built cashless habits through WeChat before launching its own digital currency. He says the UAE is moving all its government documents onto blockchain. [2]

He says dapps and apps on Ethereum began after 2015. He says deploying a smart contract on Ethereum requires paying a fee. He says Hyperledger suits private networks and Ethereum suits public networks. [2]

He says a miner is a machine doing calculations, not a person. He cites a prediction that quantum computer processors will be in everyone's hands by 2035. He says current security mechanisms will not work on 5G. [2]

Views on NFTs and online content

Manzoor says the current NFT craze is driven more by hype than by utility. He says an NFT can record a creator's ownership, so royalties can reach the creator. He says an NFT is unique like the Mona Lisa, which cannot be made again though copies can exist. He says copying content does not transfer the original owner's ownership. He says most of his viewership went to copies of his work rather than to his own pages. [2]

Views on work and society

Manzoor says he is not a businessman. He says money is a by-product and the bottom line matters more. He says he is a data person who looks at macro trends rather than outliers. [2]

He says Pakistan's national policy has moved from geo-strategy to geo-economics. He says people must see themselves as lifelong learners. He says he needs innovative minds, not followers. He says he thinks jobs will increase, not disappear. He says five years ago he tried to persuade people to adopt working from home. [2]

He says it was an honour to be able to do something for Pakistan. He says he raised questions such as why Pakistan does not make its own digital currency. [2]

Personal life

Manzoor says he reads for an hour every night. He says he runs a home cloud system with four terabytes of storage. [2]

Timeline

1998 to 2000
Graduated in computer science, by his account[2]
2020
Held his first conference, with participants from all seven continents, by his account[2]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2026-09-08 Can blockchain kill Pakistan's patwari mafia? Thought Behind Things
2021-06-07 Why Bitcoin alone won't fix Pakistan's economy Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Ahmad Manzoor?

Ahmad Manzoor is an architect and blockchain technologist who runs the Pakistan Blockchain Institute. He says he has worked on blockchain for four years. He says he has designed large data centres in Pakistan, Dubai and Europe.[2]

What does Ahmad Manzoor do?

Ahmad Manzoor describes himself as an architect and a blockchain technologist. He says he works mostly in the design phase, on architecture rather than deployment. He runs the Pakistan Blockchain Institute.[2]

Where did Ahmad Manzoor study?

Ahmad Manzoor studied computer science. He says he graduated around 1998 to 2000. He got a job offer on the day of his last university exam, and his first job was in networking.[2]

What is the Pakistan Blockchain Institute?

The Pakistan Blockchain Institute is run by Ahmad Manzoor. He describes himself as a blockchain technologist and says he has worked on blockchain for four years. He says he teaches in different initiatives.[2]

Does Ahmad Manzoor think bitcoin is a currency?

Ahmad Manzoor says bitcoin is not a currency and compares it to bonds or chit funds. He says cryptocurrency has no underlying productive fundamental. He says blockchain is certain to be the future, while bitcoin's future as a currency is uncertain.[2]

Has Ahmad Manzoor invested in bitcoin?

Ahmad Manzoor says he has never invested in bitcoin and holds none. He says bitcoin is just exchanging hands, and he calls it a double shah scheme.[2]

Does Ahmad Manzoor work for the KP government?

Ahmad Manzoor says the KP government did not hire him. He says a committee listed him as a blockchain expert and technologist, not a cryptocurrency expert. He says a friend introduced him as a blockchain expert.[2]

Is Ahmad Manzoor a software engineer?

Ahmad Manzoor says he is not a software engineer and does not code. He describes himself as an architect. He says he works mostly in the design phase, on architecture rather than deployment.[2]

References

  1. Can blockchain kill Pakistan's patwari mafia? . Thought Behind Things , 2026-09-08.
  2. Why Bitcoin alone won't fix Pakistan's economy . Thought Behind Things , 2021-06-07.
Show the source passages (68 statements)
  1. His mother is a doctor. mere actually my mother is a doctor
  2. His father is an engineer. mere father engineer hain
  3. He says he had dyslexia as a child. mujhe dyslexic ki problem thi bachpan mein
  4. He studied computer science and graduated around 1998 to 2000. kiya computer science hi tha, BS, tab toh khair BS nahi hua karta tha, BCS hota hota tha. It was 98 aur 2000 mein graduate hua tha
  5. He got a job offer on the day of his last university exam. jis din mera last day tha, exam tha actually, I got a job at the same day, same day.
  6. His first job was in networking. Networks ki thi, networks ki job thi.
  7. He says networking has been the main focus of his career. mera jo main focus raha hai saari zindagi woh networks mein raha hai
  8. He is Cisco certified. Cisco certified, CCN, bla bla bla
  9. He worked at several companies, including Wateen and PTCL. Wateen, PTCL, Infotech aur woh bas ek wahi roller coaster type ki ride hai
  10. He says he designed large data centres in Pakistan, Dubai and Europe. Pakistan ke jitne bade bade data centers hain, phir Dubai ke, Europe ke uh woh saare mere haath ke design hue hue hain
  11. He says he designed Doha's largest smart city. aapka jo is time sabse bada smart city hai Doha ka, woh maine design kiya hua hai
  12. He says he works mostly in the design phase, on architecture rather than deployment. I am mostly in designer designing phase, main deployment wala, ji haan architecture side pe
  13. He says he is not a software engineer and does not code. I am not a software engineer, theek hai, toh mujhe toh coding aati bhi nahi hai
  14. He describes himself as an architect. Toh programmer bilkul nahi hoon. Lekin architect hoon.
  15. He says he reads for an hour every night. main raat ko ek ghanta zaroor book padhta hoon
  16. He says he began exploring blockchain about four years before he spoke, while returning from Dubai. blockchain explore kar li, aaj se takreeban chaar saal pehle, main Dubai se wapas aa raha tha. Right. Toh blockchain revolution ek book hai, Don Tapscott ki.
  17. He says he has worked on blockchain for four years and is invited to speak about it. pichle chaar saal se main iske upar jo hai na, yani log as a speaker bhi bulate hain
  18. He describes himself as a technologist and a blockchain technologist. I am a technologist and a blockchain technologist right now
  19. He says he has never invested in bitcoin and holds none. maine kabhi usmein invest nahi kiya, I have no Bitcoins, I have nothing with this
  20. He says the KP government did not hire him. I am not hired by the KPK government
  21. He says the committee listed him as a blockchain expert and technologist, not a cryptocurrency expert. mera naam diya as a blockchain expert, who is a technologist, who is not a cryptocurrency expert
  22. He says a friend introduced him as a blockchain expert. mere dost ne unko introduce karwaya ke he is a blockchain expert
  23. He says it was an honour to be able to do something for Pakistan. that's an honor for me ke main Pakistan ke liye kuch kar sakun
  24. He says he raised questions such as why Pakistan does not make its own digital currency. main question uthata tha ke why this? Why we want to go this? Hum apni digital currency kyun nahi banate?
  25. He runs the Pakistan Blockchain Institute. apna Pakistan Blockchain Institute chala raha hoon
  26. He says five years ago he tried to persuade people to adopt working from home. maine work from home logon ko aaj se paanch saal pehle samjhane ki koshish ki thi
  27. He says he used to have to travel internationally when he had to give a talk. pehle mujhe uh jab talk deni hoti thi toh mujhe international jana padta tha
  28. He says his first conference, in early 2020, had people from all seven continents. Jo maine pehli conference ki thi, that was in 2020 start mein. Achha. Usmein uh saaton continent ke log the
  29. He says he teaches in different initiatives. Different initiatives mein padha raha hoon.
  30. He says he teaches in a programme where the teaching is free. yahan pe jo hai na yeh free padha rahe hain, padha main hi raha hoon wahan pe
  31. He says he is not a businessman. I am not a businessman to be honest
  32. He says money is a by-product and the bottom line matters more. The bottom line is more important than, you know, ke ji yeh paisa ek uh secondary, by-product hai
  33. He says bitcoin is just exchanging hands, and he calls it a double shah scheme. So so Bitcoin is just exchanging hands essentially, jiski wajah se main usko double shah scheme kehta hoon
  34. He says cryptocurrency has no underlying productive fundamental. The problem that I have with the cryptocurrency right now is that there is no underlying productive fundamental to it
  35. He says that whenever someone makes money, someone else has to lose that money. whenever you make money, someone will have to lose that money
  36. He says productivity has always been important in the Islamic financial system. Islamic financial system mein productivity was always a very, very important
  37. He says the State Bank and the SECP are the only bodies that regulate currency and financial markets. the only organizations to regulate currency and financial markets are the State Bank and the SECP which is the federal agency
  38. He says bitcoin is not a currency and compares it to bonds or chit funds. Main kehta hoon yeh price bonds hain, chit funds hain ya jo bhi aap inko keh lein. This is not a currency.
  39. He says 80 percent of global central banks are now looking at digital currencies. 80% of the global central banks are now looking at digital currencies
  40. He says China has started a digital yuan in five cities. China has already started a you know Digital Yuan, yes. Digital Yuan in five cities
  41. He says the cryptocurrency bubble will burst, as the IT dot-com bubble did. jis tarah IT ka dot com bubble burst hua tha, that is the time when crypto currency bubble will burst
  42. He says China built cashless habits through WeChat before launching its own digital currency. Usne pehle logon ko WeChat ki aadat daali. Right. Usne currency logon ki jeb se nikali. Right. Ki ji iski aadat nahi. Cashless kiya usne pehle.
  43. He says Pakistan's national policy has moved from geo-strategy to geo-economics. national policy, geo-strategy se geo-economics ki taraf gayi hai
  44. He says people must see themselves as lifelong learners. aap ko apne aap ko learner manna padega woh bhi lifetime ke liye
  45. He says he needs innovative minds, not followers. Mujhe innovation mind, innovative minds required hain. Mujhe followers nahi chahiye
  46. He says dapps and apps on Ethereum began after 2015. Ethereum ka network jo pura generate hua ya us mein jo dapps banni shuru hui hain, apps banni shuru hui hain woh 2015 ke baad shuru hui hain
  47. He says deploying a smart contract on Ethereum requires paying a fee. Same as Ethereum, agar aap ne apna koi smart contract, dapp, koi bhi cheez wahan pe ja ke woh karni hai na, to you need to pay a fee
  48. He says Hyperledger suits private networks and Ethereum suits public networks. Hyperledger is for private networks, and Ethereum is for public networks.
  49. He says a miner is a machine doing calculations, not a person. Banda nahi hai. Woh woh mining machine hai jo super computer hai. Theek hai, woh calculation kar rahi hai baith ke.
  50. He cites a prediction that quantum computer processors will be in everyone's hands by 2035. 2035 ki ek prediction hai ke quantum computer processor har bande ke haath mein hoga
  51. He says the UAE is moving all its government documents onto blockchain. UAE apne pure tamam jo government documents hain na, us ko blockchain pe le ke aa raha hai
  52. He says he thinks jobs will increase, not disappear. Mera toh khayal hai jobs badh jayengi
  53. He says he is a data person who looks at macro trends rather than outliers. main data ka banda hoon, main macro ko dekhta hoon, main micro, main outliers ko nahi dekhta
  54. He says he became a fitness instructor from Australia. What I have done, a fitness, I become a fitness instructor from Australia
  55. He says most of his viewership went to copies of his work rather than to his own pages. mere paas zyada tar jo viewership aayi, woh mere pages, mere apne owned assets ke bajaye woh jin logon ne reproduce kiya udhar zyada viewership aayi
  56. He says the current NFT craze is driven more by hype than by utility. jo current NFT ka craze hai, that is more driven by that is a more hype actually
  57. He says an NFT can record a creator's ownership, so royalties can reach the creator. Underlying technology define kar chuki hai ke meri is mein ek certain amount of ownership hai. Us ne us ke kamaye hue paise se ek chunk nikala aur royalty ki mad mein mujhe de diya
  58. He says an NFT is unique like the Mona Lisa, which cannot be made again though copies can exist. Jaise Mona Lisa kis ne banayi? Right. That is a unique. Isi liye woh millions of dollars ki hai. Woh dobara nahi ban sakti, us ki copy ban sakti hai
  59. He says copying content does not transfer the original owner's ownership. Unhon ne us cheez ko copy to kar liya lekin woh aap ki ownership se nahi le payenge
  60. He says current security mechanisms will not work on 5G. 5G mein yeh yeh jo abhi security chal rahi hain, yeh mechanism nahi chal payenge
  61. He says blockchain will fundamentally change people's lives. blockchain is the future and you know it is going to fundamentally change our lives
  62. He says a digitised system would remove the need for stamp papers and visits to a patwari. Toh yeh ek badi revolutionary si cheez hai ki bhai mujhe ab aap mujhe stamp papers pe nahi deal karne ki zaroorat, mujhe jo hai woh, woh kya kehlata hai, patwari ke paas jaane ki zaroorat nahi hai, mera sab kuch digitize ho gaya hai.
  63. He says he runs a home cloud system with four terabytes of storage. maine cloud computing apna poora system lagaya hua hai, cloud computing ka ghar pe. Char terabyte woh hai
  64. He used to travel to Islamabad to teach. jaise main Islamabad aata tha na padhane ke liye, toh 4 ghante jaana
  65. He is an advisory board member of a large conference and says he represents Pakistan there. abhi jaise main advisory board member hoon, Arab M-Tech ek bahut badi conference hoti hai. Right. So I am representing Pakistan there.
  66. He says blockchain is certain to be the future, while bitcoin's future as a currency is uncertain. Bitcoin is the future is a question mark, blockchain is the future, that's a certainty
  67. He says blockchain is a network and a technology, not a cryptocurrency. Toh blockchain is not a cryptocurrency, blockchain is a network, aur blockchain apne aap mein ek technology hai
  68. He says bitcoin was created in 2008 and 2009. Bitcoin jab banayi gayi thi na us yeh kab aayi? That is 2008, 2009.