Released on, Aug. 27 — August 27, 2025 at 7:15 AM

In its initial board session held on Tuesday, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) discussed the removal of the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) 2018 prohibition on digital assets, alongside outlining a plan for artificial intelligence-based risk control, certification processes, and oversight systems.

In a session held in Islamabad, the PVARA committee “reviewed the cancellation of BPRD Circular No. 03 dated 2018, released by the SBP, which instructed banking entities not to engage with digital currencies and tokens,” stated an official release.

According to the SBP directive, digital assets such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Pakcoin, OneCoin, DasCoin, Pay Diamond, and similar Initial Coin Offering (ICO) tokens do not hold the status of legal currency and are neither issued nor endorsed by the government of Pakistan.

The SBP has not approved or authorized any person or organization to issue, sell, buy, trade, or invest in any such Virtual Currencies/Coins/Tokens within Pakistan.

Considering the above, all banks, development finance institutions, microfinance banks, and payment system operators/payment service providers are urged not to process, use, trade, hold, transfer value through, promote, or invest in virtual currencies(tokens).

Moreover, banks, DFIs, microfinance institutions, and PSOs/PSPs will refrain from enabling their clients or account holders to conduct transactions involving virtual currencies or ICO tokens.

Additionally, according to the SBP guidelines, any such transaction must promptly be notified to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) as a questionable activity.

The PVARA session held on Tuesday included Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, who served as a guest speaker and is the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue. Also present were the Minister of State for Cryptocurrency and Blockchain along with PVARA Chairperson Bilal bin Saqib, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), senior officials from the Ministry of Information Technology and the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Head of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and important participants such as members of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).

During his speech, the finance minister praised the creation of PVARA as a significant turning point in Pakistan’s economic development.

He highlighted the importance of the authorities’ role in establishing Pakistan as a pioneer in the worldwide digital currency market.

At the meeting, the PVARA board discussed main objectives, such as implementing PVARA to meet global Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Funding of Terrorism (AML/CFT) guidelines, suggesting independent directors who have knowledge in digital currencies for endorsement, and setting up the organization’s fundamental structure.

In order to speed up development, the board decided to establish specialized committees concentrating on pilot testing, tax regulations, rule formulation, and global cooperation. A preliminary version of the suggested licensing system was also provided to the members for review, which will be completed shortly.

Furthermore, PVARA will conduct meetings every two months during the initial six months to facilitate strong input and engagement with stakeholders.

“The statement noted that the board also gave approval for establishing a complaints platform, created jointly with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), aimed at handling issues concerning digital assets and offering prompt resolution,” said the release.

The chairman of PVARA, Bilal bin Saqib, stated: “This day marks a crucial turning point for Pakistan’s digital asset sector. PVARA aims to protect financial stability while encouraging progress, funding, and growth within the realm of digital currencies. Our objective is to establish confidence locally and elevate Pakistan’s reputation as an innovative participant in the international digital currency market.”