KARACHI: The Pakis­tan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has published sandbox guidelines and opened applications for the first phase of issuance of asset-referenced tokens.

An asset-referenced token is a type of stablecoin, defined in the recently passed Virtual Assets Act, 2026 as a virtual asset “that represents, directly or indirectly, ownership rights, claims, or economic interests, including entitlements to receive or share income, returns, or other economic benefits, in respect of one or more underlying assets, or is designed to maintain a stable value by reference to such underlying assets.”

Such tokens are required to be “fully backed by the underlying assets and may reference tangible or intangible assets, including but not limited to commodities, real estate, real-world assets, securities, financial assets, or a combination of official currencies, but shall not be backed or derive its value from other virtual assets.”

A Fiat-referenced Token, on the other hand, is another form of stablecoin that PVARA is set to regulate. This is defined as a “virtual asset that purports to maintain a stable value relative to a single official currency of any country and is redeemable at par value by its issuer”.

The newly-published guidelines, which appear to focus on the issuance of asset-referenced tokens, include details regarding eligibility, the application process, and key evaluation criteria, including exit strategy, as it asks applicants to provide an exit plan —focused on “winding down if unsuccessful or transitioning to licensing if successful”.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2026