Summary
- In Pakistan’s latest crypto move, it has created a digital asset authority.
- Pakistan has, during 2025, embraced the crypto and blockchain sectors, with this new authority the latest manifestation of its seriousness about developing the sector.
- The country looks to be charting a course between increasing oversight and creating the conditions for innovation and the sector’s development.
In a step towards better regulation crypto and meeting global norms, Pakistan has created the Pakistan Digital Asset Authority (PDAA).
The announcement comes swiftly on the back of the creation in March of the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), and is, according to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, part of moves to place the country at the “forefront of financial innovation”.
The PDAA, which has secured the support of the Finance Ministry and legislators, will be the country’s regulatory body that oversees blockchain-based financial infrastructure, ensuring compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. It will regulate and supervise licensing and compliance throughout the sector, specifically exchanges, custodians, stablecoins, wallets and DeFi applications.
In addition to this, the PDAA is expected to be tasked with tokenizing national assets and government debt, supporting local start-ups that are looking to create blockchain solutions, and facilitating the monetization of Pakistan’s surplus electricity through Bitcoin mining.
Currently, Pakistan has a growing but informal crypto and blockchain sector, reportedly worth $25 billion. In terms of adoption, it ranks 9th globally, with growth reflecting “strong retail adoption and transactions as centralized services”.
Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to embrace crypto, and certainly the Finance Ministry is keen to establish future-ready credentials. In response to the PDAA’s creation, Minister Aurangzeb was quoted as saying that “Pakistan must regulate not just to catch up, but to lead,” and that the PDAA will create a framework that “protects consumers, invites global investment, and puts Pakistan at the forefront of financial innovation”.
The decision to create the PDAA reportedly came on the advice of Changpeng Zhoa, Binance’s former CEO, who acts as an advisor to the PCC. The PCC’s CEO, Bilal Bin Saqib, is keen to transform Pakistan’s financial landscape through digital assets and Web3, describing recent developments as “rewriting our financial future” with a focus on financial access and innovation.
The move comes a month after the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued Pakistan’s first-ever complete policy framework for regulating virtual assets and their providers. A working group formed in 2024 developed the framework, which seeks to curtail money laundering and terrorist financing, while also harnessing blockchain-based finance.
The events of recent months mark a stark turnaround for Pakistan’s authorities, which have long adopted a cautious position on crypto. Signs that this was softening emerged in 2024 when the central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, proposed amendments to the SBP Act, among which was to allow it to issue and manage digital forms of money.
The creation of the PCC in March was regarded as the most tangible manifestation of the change in attitude. This latest move will further bolster the confidence of those supporting the country’s crypto and blockchain development.
