Is crypto legal in Pakistan?

Tax treatment

'Virtual Asset' — a new statutory term under the Virtual Assets Act 2026, regulated as a licensed financial-services activity; explicitly not legal tender.

Pakistan has no dedicated cryptocurrency tax law as of mid-2026 — the Virtual Assets Act 2026 is a licensing and AML framework, not a tax code. Crypto gains and income fall under general Income Tax Ordinance provisions administered by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR); no VDA-specific rate schedule, loss-offset rule, or withholding regime had been published at time of writing.

No crypto-specific ITR schedule or FBR VDA guidance existed as of July 2026 — filers should default to general income/capital-gains provisions and monitor FBR for VDA-specific rules, which are widely expected to follow the licensing rollout.

Can banks handle crypto here?

Under BPRD Circular Letter No. 10 of 2026 (14 April 2026), SBP-regulated banks may open segregated, rupee-denominated, non-interest-bearing 'client money accounts' — but only for PVARA-licensed VASPs, only after independently verifying the license with PVARA, and cash deposits/withdrawals into these accounts are barred outright. Banks themselves remain prohibited from trading, investing in, or holding virtual assets with their own funds or customer deposits. This reverses SBP's April 2018 blanket prohibition (BPRD Circular No. 03 of 2018) on banks dealing with virtual currencies.

Buying and selling crypto in Pakistan

PVARA began issuing No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) — the first licensing step — to major global exchanges including Binance and HTX during 2026; VASPs must also register on the Financial Monitoring Unit's goAML portal and incorporate a licensed local entity. Operating without a license now carries fines up to PKR 50 million (~US$179,000) and up to 5 years' imprisonment. Complicating real-world adoption: a 10 June 2026 fatwa from a prominent Islamic scholar ruled crypto payments (including USDT) impermissible under Shariah, prompting PVARA's chairman to open direct dialogue with the scholar in July 2026 — PVARA is statutorily required to maintain a Shariah Advisory Committee to work through this tension.

Authority sources used

Outbound links are included for verification and entity authority, not decoration. Every claim on this page traces back to one of these.

• Pakistan legalises virtual assetsDAWN.com
• Pakistan ends seven-year crypto restriction, allows banks to serve licensed providersCoinDesk (Reuters)
• PVARA — Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (official site)Government of Pakistan
• Pakistan's crypto regulator meets scholar behind fatwa banning digital assetsCryptopolitan

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