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OKX names Pakistan as a market for OKX Money. What PVARA's rules say

OKX's new app turns local money into dollar stablecoins and offers up to 10% a year. Its launch release names Pakistan among its first markets. OKX holds no Pakistani licence, and PVARA's rules on marketing, payments and yield are specific.

Ammar Khan

Ammar Khan

5 min read
A person's hand holding a smartphone, screen tilted away from the camera.
Photo by Jae Park on Unsplash

Key takeaways

  • OKX launched OKX Money on 6 October: stablecoin balances, up to 10% a year on eligible USDG, a spending card and referral commissions.
  • OKX's press release says the app is "initially available" in markets including Pakistan. A Pakistani news site carried it on 6 October.
  • PVARA's rules treat a service as "in Pakistan" if it markets to, onboards or takes rupees from people here.
  • PVARA has announced No Objection Certificates for two exchanges, Binance and HTX. OKX is not one of them.

What OKX launched

OKX, one of the largest crypto exchanges, introduced OKX Money on 6 October as a standalone app. Customers fund it in "more than 50 supported currencies", and the money is converted into dollar-backed stablecoins: USDG, USDC or USDT. "Qualifying customers can get rewarded up to 10% APY on eligible USDG balances, with no staking or lockup required," the company says.

The app also carries a virtual or physical card that OKX says charges no foreign-exchange fee, cashback of up to 10% for some customers, and a referral scheme. A customer earns a commission when someone they invite starts spending, and another when that person invites someone else.

Fortune reported that the app is aimed at "emerging markets in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East". Haider Rafique, OKX's global managing partner, told the magazine: "I grew up in Pakistan." He recalled his parents sending him money through Western Union.

The press release OKX issued with the launch is more specific. As carried by Daily Pakistan on 6 October, it says OKX Money "is initially available across markets in Latin America, Africa (such as South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria), South Asia (such as Pakistan, Bangladesh) and the Middle East", and is "available to download today in participating markets". OKX's own blog post does not list countries. It says OKX "operates under regulatory licensing frameworks in more than 30 jurisdictions". When we searched Apple's Pakistan App Store early on 7 October, the main OKX app was listed but OKX Money was not.

When a foreign app counts as "in Pakistan"

Pakistan's rules turn on whether a service is offered here. The Virtual Asset Services Regulations (S.R.O. 1419(I)/2026), in force since 21 August, apply to anyone who provides a crypto service "in Pakistan" or "from Pakistan".

Regulation 3(4) says an activity may count as "in Pakistan" where it "targets, solicits, promotes to, or onboard[s] persons in Pakistan". That includes marketing through a website or app, "payment rails, or provision of services in PKR".

There is a safe harbour in regulation 3(5). An app is not caught merely because it can be opened in Pakistan, provided the company does not market here, does not onboard people here, does not support rupee payment channels, and "takes reasonable steps to prevent onboarding" of people it does not intend to serve.

A launch release naming Pakistan, run in Pakistani media, is the kind of promotion regulation 3(4) describes. Whether the rules reach OKX Money also depends on facts OKX has not published: whether it accepts Pakistani sign-ups and whether rupees are among its 50 currencies. Deciding whether a firm is caught is PVARA's job. We are setting out the test, not applying it.

Three rules a product like this runs into

Marketing before a licence. A firm that was already serving Pakistanis and has applied for a licence may keep operating while PVARA decides. Under regulation 5A(2), though, "if the applicant intends to conduct any marketing activity, it shall seek prior approval of the Authority." A multi-level referral scheme is a marketing channel. PVARA's April advisory went further, warning that public announcements of stablecoin and remittance initiatives "without prior engagement with PVARA" carry regulatory and FATF risks, "including the possibility that the proposed activity may not lawfully proceed."

Spending crypto at home. Regulation 3(6) says virtual assets "shall not facilitate, or be used or recognized as, a means of payment for domestic commercial transactions", unless the State Bank approves it. A card that spends stablecoin balances abroad is a different case from one used at a shop in Lahore. The rules draw that line, and OKX has not said how its card would work for Pakistani users.

Yield. The activity-specific regulations (S.R.O. 1420(I)/2026) say a licensed custodian may not run "yield-generating or similar activities" with client assets without the client's "explicit prior written informed consent", and that PVARA "may impose restrictions, conditions or prohibitions" on them. Lending and borrowing is a separate licence category, and a firm "shall not hold itself out" as offering it without that licence. Which category, if any, a 10% stablecoin reward falls into is for PVARA to decide, not us.

Where OKX stands with PVARA

PVARA's news page records No Objection Certificates for two global exchanges, Binance and HTX, granted in December 2025. A No Objection Certificate is a first step, not a licence, and as of our tracker's last check on 2 October, PVARA had licensed no company. OKX does not appear in anything PVARA has published. PVARA has not published a list of applicants, so we cannot say whether OKX has applied.

What this means for Pakistani users

  • Check before you sign up. If the app accepts you, ask whether OKX is licensed or has applied in Pakistan. Today, no crypto firm here is licensed, so no Pakistani regulator supervises a balance you hold with any of them.
  • 10% is a reward set by the company, not a bank deposit rate. OKX says it applies to "qualifying customers" and "eligible" USDG balances. Read which balances qualify, and whether the rate can change.
  • A dollar stablecoin is not a dollar in a bank. Its value rests on the issuer's reserves and on getting your money back out. Pakistan's rules require licensed stablecoin issuers to hold reserves equal to 100% of what they owe, but none of these three coins is issued under Pakistani law.
  • Getting out costs something. In our daily series, USDT has cost more than the official dollar rate on P2P markets every day since 6 August. The premium was 2.8% on the evening of 6 October. See our USDT rate page.
  • Be wary of referral pitches. Rewards for recruiting friends, and for their recruits, are how such products spread fast. If you are invited, the person inviting you may be paid for it.

CryptoPakistan has no affiliate or referral relationship with OKX, Binance or Bybit.

What we're watching

  • Whether OKX confirms that Pakistanis can sign up, and whether the rupee is a funding currency.
  • Whether PVARA comments on OKX Money, or on yield-bearing stablecoin apps generally.
  • PVARA's first licences, and the Binance and HTX applications due around 21 November.

Sources

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