• PVARA chairman likens licences to compliance with laws, regulations
• Says Pakistan among world’s first three states to have adopted crypto
• Expects country to emerge as a case study for global assets

KARACHI: Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Bilal Bin Saqib has said that the government is not seeking to ‘control’ but to regulate crypto, explaining that licences will be issued to only those entities complying with Pakistani law and the regulated framework.

The no-objection certificates (NOCs) issued to global cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and HTX were not a ‘blanket approval’ but the ‘first step’ under a risk-mitigated, phased, supervised entry framework, Mr Saqib added.

His video statement aired on Sunday comes a couple of days after Pakistan gave initial clearance for Binance and HTX to register with regulators to set up local subsidiaries and begin preparations for full exchange licence applications. The clearances allow the exchanges to register on the Anti-Money Laun­d­ering (AML) system, set up local units and prepare full applications.

He exp­lained that no platform would be allowed entry in the country without ‘disclosures and verification’, asserting that the process of licensing would be initiated for entities after they would “move forward in line with Pakistan’s law and with its oversight”.

He said this model was not unique to Pakistan and the world’s leading financial centres had been approaching new industries in a phased manner. He said Pakistan ranked among the world’s first three “crypto-adoption countries”, adding that it was estimated that there were 30 to 40 million crypto users in the country. They adopted this industry without any regulatory framework and education, indicating their world class talent, “but are our systems world class? Are our regulations world class?”

Reiterating that a “Pakistan-first approach” was being employed in the crypto sector, he said, “We will first control this industry and then scale it.” He said it would not be wise for the state to stay out of a sector in which people were involved on an extensive scale. “You cannot ignore innovation,” he said.

“Our country is the fifth-most populous country with tech-savvy youth and where digital adoption is growing fast. But the [country will be able to] benefit from this talent when they have a legal, structured path [to follow], when they will have a framework, otherwise, they will leave.”

He said that through the framework devised for the crypto sector, the government aimed to prepare for the ‘industries of 2035’.

However, he emphasised that the country needed to prepare for the future and be globally trusted “so that we are able to strengthen our sovereignty and economy through technology.” Referring to the issuance of NOCs to Binance and HTX, he said, “This is not our destination. This is the foundation of a building that the youth have to construct.

“Pakistan’s future should not be imports. It should be built here, by your hands. Pakistan should emerge as a global case study in the area of global assets.”

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2025