ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) on Monday decided to constitute a technical committee to review draft laws regarding the creation of an independent regulatory authority for the digital finance and crypto ecosystem, in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) safeguards.

The PCC meeting, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, was convened to review the legal and regulatory framework for digital currencies following a request from two major stakeholders under his portfolio that cryptos remain banned in the country. The Prime Minister’s Office, according to informed sources, had taken serious notice of the adverse feedback and rebuked a senior government official, asking the finance minister to look into the matter.

The committee comprising representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Ministry of Law and Justice and IT & Telecom Division will “review the draft laws and propose a robust framework and governance structure to be reviewed by the Pakistan Crypto Council in its next meeting”, said an official statement.

The meeting was also attended virtually by Bilal Bin Saqib, Minister of State/Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Blockchain and Crypto and Chief Executive Officer of the Pakistan Crypto Council. The SBP governor, the chairman of the SECP, and secretaries for the Law and Justice Division and IT & Telecom also attended, some of them via video link.

Regulatory framework to protect digital, virtual assets

“The meeting focused on the draft regulatory framework for digital and virtual assets in Pak­istan, aiming to align with international standards and evolving technological trends”, said an official statement, adding that the participants also discussed various options around the establishment of an autonomous regulatory authority to oversee and regulate the digital finance and crypto ecosystem in the country.

Strangely, the government has already announced the establishment of the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) to regulate and accelerate the Virtual Asset Economy in compliance with the FATF safeguards, as per an announcement on May 21.

The participants of the PCC meeting exchanged views on ensuring a secure, transparent, and innovation-friendly regulatory environment, with the goal of promoting responsible blockchain adoption, safeguarding investors, and advancing financial inclusion.

The finance minister as PCC chairman “reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building a future-ready financial infrastructure that supports innovation while maintaining financial stability and regulatory compliance”, the MoF said.

He said PDAA would serve as a specialised regulatory body with a clear mandate to oversee licensing, compliance, and innovation within the digital asset ecosystem. It will regulate exchanges, custodians, wallets, tokenised platforms, stablecoins, and DeFi applications — all under a single, agile framework, the MoF had said last month, adding that this strategic decision aligned Pakis­tan with other forward-thinking economies such as the UAE, Jap­an, Singapore and Hong Kong — all of which have established digital assets regulators to foster in­­novation while ensuring compliance with global financial norms.

The PDAA is expected to regulate over $25bn informal crypto market, enable tokenisation of national assets and government debt, provide legal clarity to global and local investors and facilitate monetisation of Pakis­tan’s surplus electricity through regulated Bitcoin mining.

The government is also considering establishing the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) — a proposed autonomous body to oversee the digital finance and cryptocurrency ecosystem in the country.

It was not yet clear whether the government would ultimately establish PDAA, PVARA, or both.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2025