{"id":1828,"date":"2026-03-03T03:44:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T03:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2026-04-05T08:23:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T08:23:17","slug":"articles-3-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/2026\/03\/03\/articles-3-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Pakistan moving towards a safer space for crypto and digital assets?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For years, Pakistan faced a regulatory grey area when it came to cryptocurrency. The relationship between Pakistan and cryptocurrency was defined by confusion. Before March 2026, the State Bank of Pakistan imposed a ban on crypto transactions while millions traded anyway. This chapter now appears to be closed as President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Virtual Assets Act into law<\/strong>, signaling its intent to become a safer and transparent space for crypto and digital assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, Pakistan emerged as the world\u2019s third largest crypto market, with around 40 million cryptocurrency users. The State Bank of Pakistan imposed a ban on cryptocurrency transactions in 2018 to protect the financial system. Instead, it created a remarkable grassroots crypto economy in the world. This government could not ignore this reality for any longer. The Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC)<\/strong> was established in March 2025, followed by the creation of the Pakistan Digital Asset Authority<\/strong>, part of a broader push to place the country at the “forefront of financial innovation,” according to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The keystone of this change is the establishment of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA)<\/strong> issued by the government. PVARA is mandated to license and supervise virtual asset service providers with tools to curb financial misconducts aligning Pakistan with FATF, World Bank, and IMF standards. This legislative pivot moves beyond mere acceptance; by allocating 2,000 megawatts of electricity for mining<\/strong> and exploring a strategic Bitcoin reserve<\/strong>, Pakistan is positioning digital assets as critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The constant collaboration efforts with the State Bank of Pakistan has helped the state to integrate crypto into the traditional financial system rather than remaining on its fringes. Moreover, individuals or entities operating without license will face heavy charges, assets forfeiture, and potential criminal prosecutions. While challenges remain in balancing rapid innovation with financial stability, Pakistan has taken a seat at the main table and no longer at the sidelines. It is making its way towards a legitimate and regulated pillar of its digital economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For years, Pakistan faced a regulatory grey area when it came to cryptocurrency. The relationship between Pakistan and cryptocurrency was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1829,"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions\/1829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vdotech.co.uk\/ahmedcousin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}