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Pakistan establishes authority to regulate crypto

Policy & Regulation·May 23, 2025, 7:42 AM

Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has signed off on the establishment of the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA), a body which will be responsible for the implementation of regulations governing blockchain and the digital assets sector.

 

In a report published by Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn, the media outlet outlined that the Ministry of Finance has taken this step in an effort to embrace future innovation in the finance sector. 

 

The new agency will be responsible for monitoring the operations of digital wallet service providers, stablecoin issuers, the development firms behind decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, crypto custodians and crypto exchange platforms. 

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Photo by Hamid Roshaan on Unsplash

From crypto ban to crypto regulation

In October 2022, Pakistan was removed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, from its grey list. The following year, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Aisha Ghaus Pasha outlined that banning cryptocurrency was a condition of the country’s removal from the FATF grey list. Accordingly, the South Asian country proceeded to ban digital assets, with Ghaus Pasha declaring that crypto would “never be legalized in Pakistan.”

Despite the adverse position taken previously by the authorities in Pakistan where digital assets were concerned, in 2024 a survey carried out by Chainalysis revealed that Pakistan featured strongly in terms of retail-level crypto adoption.

 

With this latest development, Pakistan is moving forward progressively with digital assets, albeit that it is doing so while being cognizant of the current requirements demanded by FATF related to crypto. The newly-formed PDAA will act to ensure FATF-compliant innovation, while striving for economic inclusion and the adoption of digital assets in a responsible manner.

 

Regulating to lead crypto innovation rather than catching up

Pakistan’s current Minister for Finance and Revenue, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said that “Pakistan must regulate not just to catch up — but to lead.” He added that through the establishment of the PDAA, a digital assets regulatory framework that protects consumers will be created. Furthermore, he claimed that such an approach would attract global investment, putting Pakistan “at the forefront of financial innovation.”

Another area of focus for the PDAA will be the facilitation of the tokenization of government debt and national assets. Pakistan runs an annual average electricity surplus of 4,000 megawatts. In 2024, total electricity generation was recorded at 92,091 GWh while demand weighed in at 68,559 GWh.

 

With that, the Pakistani authorities want the PDAA to create the correct conditions that will lead to regulated Bitcoin mining operators utilizing this energy resource. Other objectives which have been set out for the new agency include encouraging the growth of startups aimed at building blockchain-based solutions at scale, the regulation of what is estimated to be a $25 billion informal crypto market and the provision of legal clarity within the crypto sector in Pakistan for both local and international investors.

 

This latest positive development follows the formation of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) back in February. That event signaled a policy shift in Pakistan with regard to digital assets. In March PCC CEO Bilal bin Saqib said that Pakistan was done sitting on the sidelines and that the authorities now want to see Pakistan develop as a “leader in blockchain-powered finance.”

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