Crypto firms serving customers in Pakistan must begin the country’s new licensing process by September 5 or shut down, according to the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
Companies that were already providing virtual asset services on or before March 5 this year, the date the Virtual Assets Act 2026 came into force, are classified as transitional persons. Those firms must submit an application for a No Objection Certificate by September 5. PVARA said that operating after that date without filing an application would be an offense under Section 70 of the Virtual Assets Act 2026. The regulator’s portal is also open for full license applications and for a regulatory sandbox.
Bilal bin Saqib outlines the new framework
PVARA Chairman Bilal bin Saqib announced the rules in a televised address on Saturday. He told reporters the framework is intended to protect investors from fraud and place the market under the rule of law. He also said the structure goes beyond exchange oversight, arguing that stablecoins and tokenization could expand export financing, remittances, and lending for smaller businesses.
License categories now available
The categories available include exchanges, custody, broker-dealer activity, advisory services, lending and borrowing, derivatives, discretionary asset management, transfer and settlement, mining infrastructure, and the issuance of tokens pegged to assets or to a single fiat currency. A company may apply for more than one category.
What applicants and licensees must do
Applicants must be companies registered in Pakistan under the Companies Act 2017. They also need to meet the minimum paid-up capital set for each category, put directors and key staff through a fit and proper test, and maintain anti-money laundering systems covering customer checks, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting. Cybersecurity arrangements and a business continuity plan are also required.
Licensed firms must keep customer holdings separate from their own assets and may not lend or pledge those holdings without written consent. PVARA said these obligations are now legal requirements rather than voluntary commitments.
In return, licensees gain access to the formal banking system, which PVARA described as the sector’s main obstacle in a country that only recently lifted an eight-year ban on banks serving crypto businesses.
Offshore exchanges need a local presence
Once a No Objection Certificate is issued, a firm must register with Pakistan’s Financial Monitoring Unit, incorporate a local subsidiary, and only then submit its license application. That means offshore exchanges serving Pakistani users need a company in Pakistan if they want to continue operating there. Binance and HTX are among the firms that already hold certificates.
How PVARA was established
PVARA was created in July 2025 through a presidential ordinance, an emergency measure that remained valid for 120 days. This year’s Act made the authority permanent.
The regulator oversees a market that ranked third in Chainalysis’ 2025 global crypto adoption index. Islamabad has also announced plans for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, and in July created a unit inside its Federal Investigation Agency to pursue criminal use of digital assets.