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Freelancers paid in dollars: SBP's bank rules vs USDT

The State Bank rewrote its rules for freelancers' dollar accounts in April, promising one-day processing and letting them keep at least $5,000 a month in dollars. Some freelancers take USDT instead, which has traded about 3% above the official rate, before fees. Here is what each route gives you, an

Ammar Khan

Ammar Khan

5 min read
Freelancers paid in dollars: SBP's bank rules vs USDT
Photo by Alexander Grey / Unsplash

Key takeaways

  • The State Bank's April 2026 rules let freelancers keep $5,000 a month, or half their export earnings if that is more, in a dollar account.
  • Banks must process incoming payments and outgoing payments from those accounts within one working day.
  • On P2P markets, USDT traded 2.2% to 3.8% above the official rate over the past 30 days (midpoint, before fees).
  • That gap comes with risks the bank route does not carry: no licensed crypto firm in Pakistan, and bank accounts that can be restricted.

Pakistani freelancers who earn from abroad have two broad ways to turn dollars into rupees. One runs through the banking system, under rules the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) set in April. The other runs through USDT, a dollar-pegged crypto token, sold to other people on peer-to-peer (P2P) markets.

On 6 April the SBP issued EPD Circular Letter No. 06 of 2026, "Facilitation for IT Companies and Freelancers". It replaces the part of the Foreign Exchange Manual that governs how banks handle their export earnings. This piece sets out what those rules give freelancers, and compares the bank route with the USDT route using our own price data.

What the State Bank's rules say

The circular's annexure defines freelancers as individuals resident in Pakistan who provide online services to international clients "on a contract or project basis, without being employed by a single organization". Its main points:

  • A dollar account by default. Banks must open an Exporters' Special Foreign Currency Account (ESFCA) at the same time as a freelancer's ordinary rupee account.
  • How much stays in dollars. Freelancers may keep "USD 5,000/- (or equivalent) per month or 50% of the export proceeds, whichever is higher" in that account. Banks must credit that amount automatically unless the freelancer asks in writing for less or none.
  • One working day. Banks must process incoming payments within one working day, unless the freelancer uses the three-day facility to shop around between banks for a rate, or changes the purpose of the payment. If the money arrives at a different bank first, each bank gets one working day to pass it on. Outgoing payments from the dollar account also have a one-working-day limit.
  • Less paperwork. The bank takes a one-time declaration of the type of service the freelancer sells. Freelancers no longer have to submit Form "R" for each receipt.
  • What the dollars can pay for. Without SBP approval, freelancers can pay abroad for "digital services, digital marketing, membership/ subscription fees, certification fee, education, etc." They can convert to rupees at any time.
  • Limits. The dollars cannot be moved to any other foreign currency account, except the freelancer's own ESFCA at another bank. Banks must issue a debit card on request, but "no cash withdrawal" from the account is allowed inside Pakistan.

The covering letter also tells banks to set up a way to resolve freelancers' complaints "in a timely manner".

The list of permitted payments does not mention crypto or virtual assets.

The USDT route, in numbers

Some freelancers are paid in USDT, or convert their earnings into it, and sell it for rupees on P2P markets such as Binance P2P. Because P2P sellers set their own prices, USDT does not trade at the official rate. We record the gap every day in our USDT/PKR premium series.

Over the 30 days to 27 October, the P2P price was between 2.23% and 3.76% above the official rate, and 2.79% above it on average. On 27 October the official rate was Rs276.81 to the dollar and the P2P midpoint was Rs285.83.

At those rates, $1,000 is worth about Rs276,800 at the official rate and about Rs285,800 on P2P, a gap of roughly Rs9,000. That is before any fees on either side. Banks also pay their own buying rate, usually a little below the official rate we use.

Payment platforms take a cut on the bank route too. Payoneer's pricing page lists fees of "1.2% – 4%" for withdrawals to a bank account, with or without currency conversion, and says a minimum fee of up to $20 may apply in some countries. It does not publish a separate figure for Pakistan, and says full fee details are shown only to signed-in users.

What the gap does not show

The premium is the headline number, not the whole picture.

  • No licensed crypto firm. PVARA, Pakistan's crypto regulator, had licensed no firm when we last reported on its applications. P2P trades happen between strangers, outside any licensed platform in Pakistan.
  • Bank accounts can be restricted. The SBP's April circular on crypto firms does not protect individuals who trade on P2P. As we explained, banks can still question, restrict or close accounts that receive many payments from unrelated people.
  • Holding is not a crime, but nothing protects you. As we set out in Is USDT legal in Pakistan?, no law makes holding or selling USDT a crime for an individual. No Pakistani regulator stands behind it either.
  • The record of your income. Earnings that arrive through a bank are reported to the SBP as export receipts, under a purpose code tied to the service you sell. Rupees paid by a P2P buyer arrive as an ordinary domestic transfer from a stranger, not as an export receipt. How tax applies to either route is a separate question this piece does not answer.

What this means for Pakistani users

  • If you are paid through a bank, you can expect incoming and outgoing payments to be processed within one working day (longer if you use the three-day shop-around facility), and to keep at least $5,000 a month in dollars. If it does not, the SBP has told banks to handle complaints promptly. Keep a note of dates.
  • If you want to keep dollars, the ESFCA does that by default. If you would rather receive everything in rupees, you have to tell the bank in writing.
  • If you are weighing USDT, the gap of about 3% is before fees and before the risk of trading with a stranger, including the risk of a restricted account.
  • If you use Payoneer or a similar platform, check the fee shown in your own account before comparing routes. The public page gives only a range.

This is reporting on published rules and our own price data, not financial, tax or legal advice.

What we're watching

  • Whether banks meet the one-working-day limits, and whether the SBP publishes data on freelancer accounts.
  • Whether PVARA licenses a firm that can legally buy USDT from Pakistanis for rupees through a bank.
  • Our monthly P2P premium report for October, due in early November.

Sources

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