Pakistan Sets September 5 Deadline for Crypto Firm Licensing

Crypto firms serving customers in Pakistan have less than a fortnight to begin the country's new licensing process or shut down, under a deadline set by the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

Companies already providing virtual asset services on or before March 5 this year, when the law commenced, are classed as transitional persons and must submit an application for a No Objection Certificate by September 5. "Operating without submitting an application after that date is an offense," PVARA said, citing Section 70 of the Virtual Assets Act 2026. The portal is also open for full licenses and for a regulatory sandbox.

Chairman Bilal bin Saqib announced the regulations in a televised address on Saturday, telling reporters the framework would protect investors from fraud and bring the market under the rule of law. He described it as doing more than supervising exchanges, arguing that stablecoins and tokenization could open up export financing, remittances and lending to smaller businesses.

The categories on offer cover exchanges, custody, broker-dealer work, advisory services, lending and borrowing, derivatives, discretionary asset management, transfer and settlement, mining infrastructure, and the issuance of tokens pegged to assets or to a single fiat currency. A firm may apply for more than one.

Applicants must be a company registered in Pakistan under the Companies Act 2017, meet minimum paid-up capital set by category, put directors and key staff through a fit and proper test, and run anti-money laundering systems covering customer checks, transaction monitoring and suspicious activity reporting. Cybersecurity arrangements and a business continuity plan are also required.

Licensed firms must keep customer holdings separate from their own and cannot lend or pledge them without written consent, obligations PVARA said are now legal requirements rather than promises. In return, licensees gain access to the formal banking system, which has been the sector's main obstacle in a country that only recently lifted an eight-year ban on banks serving crypto businesses.

After the No Objection Certificate is issued, a firm must register with Pakistan's Financial Monitoring Unit, incorporate a local subsidiary, and only then submit the license application, which means offshore exchanges with Pakistani users need a company in the country to continue. Binance and HTX are among those already holding certificates.