PVARA Licence Tracker: Who Is Actually Approved in Pakistan
No company holds a full PVARA licence yet. Three exchanges have reached the No Objection Certificate stage — which is not the same thing. A maintained record of where Pakistan's licensing regime actually stands.
Background and sources
What an NOC actually is
In PVARA's own words, the NOC "gives Virtual Asset Exchanges the regulatory clearance they need to register on the FMU goAML portal and incorporate a licensed local entity in Pakistan."
In plain terms, an NOC lets a company do three things:
- Register with Pakistan's Financial Monitoring Unit on the goAML portal
- Incorporate a local company under the Companies Act 2017
- Position itself to apply for a full licence once that framework opens
It does not confer a licence. It does not mean the platform is supervised as a licensed VASP. And it does not mean deposits held with that platform carry any regulatory protection in Pakistan.
PVARA states it targets a decision within 60 calendar days of a complete submission. The NOC route covers broker-dealer, custody, exchange and derivative services.
From consultation to notified law
PVARA ran a public consultation on the draft Pakistan Virtual Asset Services Regulations, 2026 and the accompanying handbooks between 11 June and 2 July 2026.
| Reference | PVARA/CON/001/2026 |
| Opened | 11 June 2026 |
| Closed | 2 July 2026, 4:00 PM PKT |
| Status | Closed — responses under review |
PVARA notified the regulations in final form on 21 August 2026, as S.R.O. 1419(I)/2026 and the accompanying S.R.O. 1420(I)/2026, published in the Gazette of Pakistan Extraordinary. The consultation record above is kept for reference; the instruments themselves are no longer draft.
The draft covers licensing and revocation, fit-and-proper requirements for directors and controllers, market conduct and client protection, cybersecurity and operational resilience, AML/CFT obligations, and segregation of client assets.
What this means if you trade in Pakistan
Being realistic rather than alarmist:
- No platform is currently licensed in Pakistan. Anyone claiming to be a "PVARA licensed exchange" today is misrepresenting the position.
- An NOC is a meaningful signal that a company is engaging with the regulator — but it is a starting line, not a finish line.
- Funds held on any exchange, NOC or otherwise, currently carry no Pakistani regulatory protection.
- The rules governing all of this are still in draft.
Sources
- PVARA — VASP Licensing
- PVARA — S.R.O. 1419(I)/2026, Virtual Asset Services Regulations, 2026
- PVARA — S.R.O. 1420(I)/2026, Activity Specific Regulations, 2026
- PVARA — Public Consultation PVARA/CON/001/2026
- PVARA — Advisory PVARA/ADV/001/2026 (26 April 2026)
- Dawn — Pakistan legalises virtual assets
- The Block — Parliament passes Virtual Assets Act
- Cointelegraph — Pakistan clears Binance and HTX to seek local licences