The government on Wednesday announced that President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the Virtual Assets Ordinance, 2025, establishing an independent regulator for virtual assets and cryptocurrencies.
Issued under Article 89 of the Constitution as both the National Assembly and the Senate are currently not in session, the ordinance would remain in effect for 120 days before requiring the approval of both houses of Parliament.
The ordinance seeks to establish a regulatory authority for the licensing, regulation and supervision of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. In a statement, Special Assistant to the P.M. on Blockchain and Crypto Bilal bin Saqib said the president had approved the ordinance on the prime minister’s advice.
He said the ordinance established the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA), “an autonomous federal body empowered to license, regulate and supervise entities dealing in virtual assets.”
The authority has the mandate to ensure transparency, compliance, financial integrity and the prevention of illicit activities in alignment with international standards, including those of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Its board would include the State Bank of Pakistan’s governor, secretaries of finance, law and justice, and information technology and telecommunications, and the chairpersons of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Digital Pakistan Authority.
Under the ordinance, the PVARA can license any person or company intending to offer virtual asset services in or from Pakistan. It states that the authority would formulate a licensing regime with specific requirements for incorporation, operational capacity, compliance frameworks and reporting obligations.
Additionally, per the statement, the ordinance also provides a framework for “responsible innovation” by establishing a regulatory sandbox, allowing emerging technologies and business models to be tested under supervisory oversight. It also mandates the formation of a Sharia Advisory Committee to advise PVARA on matters related to Sharia compliance of virtual asset products and services.
According to the statement, licensed entities offering Islamic financial products would be required to adhere to rulings issued by the committee. It further states the ordinance provides for the establishment of a Virtual Assets Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against regulatory decisions.
The ordinance follows the establishment of the Pakistan Crypto Council earlier this year, and the government’s claim it was earmarking 2,000MW of surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining.