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PVARA counts 75 applications. No one is licensed, and there is no list

Pakistan's crypto regulator says it has received 75 applications. Its chairman's post does not say who filed them or for what. No firm holds a licence yet, so banks still cannot settle crypto trades for anyone.

Ammar Khan

Ammar Khan

3 min read
A tree-lined avenue in Islamabad with the Margalla Hills behind.
Photo by Usama Afzal on Unsplash

Key takeaways

  • PVARA's chairman, Bilal bin Saqib, says the regulator has received 75 applications "from leading global and Pakistani firms".
  • He gave it after briefing the Prime Minister and the federal cabinet on 11 October.
  • Neither his post nor PVARA's says who applied, or for what. As of our tracker's last check on 2 October, no company held a PVARA licence and the public register of licensees the rules call for had not been published.
  • The State Bank's April circular lets banks serve licensed crypto firms. Firms with only a no-objection certificate get limited-purpose accounts, not trading accounts.

The 75

On 11 October, PVARA said its chairman, Minister of State Bilal bin Saqib, had briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the federal cabinet. The next day, he summed up the briefing on X. "In 15 months," he wrote, "Pakistan went from a blanket ban to a working regulatory regime."

His list included "75 applications from leading global and Pakistani firms". The deadline for existing operators to apply passed on 5 September.

The post counts applications, not firms. PVARA licenses each service separately, so one firm can file more than one. Nor does the post say what the 75 are for. Under PVARA's rules, a firm can apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC), the first step, or for a full licence. Firms already operating in Pakistan when the Virtual Assets Act came into force had to apply by 5 September or stop. Nor does the post say how many are foreign and how many Pakistani, or name any of them.

What has been done, and what hasn't

Some of the chairman's claims can be checked against the record.

  • "Licensing regulations notified 170 days after the Act's assent." This checks out. The Act received assent on 4 March 2026, and the licensing regulations, S.R.O. 1419(I)/2026, were notified on 21 August: 170 days later.
  • "SBP's 2018 banking ban lifted." Partly. The State Bank's BPRD Circular Letter No. 10 of 2026, dated 14 April, replaced the 2018 circular that barred banks from dealing in virtual currencies. But it lets banks open settlement accounts only for firms "duly licensed by PVARA", after checking the licence with PVARA. Firms holding only an NOC can open "limited-purpose accounts" to complete their licence formalities. Crypto transactions through a bank come "only upon the grant of a license". None has been granted.
  • "Spent less than 8% of the budget provided." The post gives neither the budget nor the amount spent, so we cannot check the figure.
  • "Sandbox live for gold, property and remittances." The post names no firms or projects, so we cannot confirm what is being tested.

The post ends: "Next: licensing."

What the rules say happens now

Two clocks in the regulations matter.

First, an NOC decision. Under regulation 6(3), PVARA must grant or refuse an NOC within 60 days of receiving a complete application. For a complete application filed on 5 September, that points to about 4 November. Regulation 6(4) is explicit that an NOC "does not constitute a Licence". The rules also let PVARA pause the clock while it asks for more information, so not every decision will come then.

Second, the two firms that already hold NOCs, Binance and HTX, have until about 21 November to apply for licences, as our licence tracker sets out.

In the meantime, regulation 5A(2) lets an existing operator that filed a complete application keep serving customers while PVARA decides. An operator that filed nothing must stop. From outside, the two look the same: nothing in the regulations requires PVARA to publish who filed, and the posts of 11 and 12 October name no one.

What this means for Pakistani users

  • 75 applications is not 75 licences, or even 75 firms. As of our 2 October check, no platform was licensed by PVARA. An advert that says "PVARA licensed" is not true of anyone yet.
  • Ask your platform directly. If you use an exchange or wallet that serves Pakistan, ask whether it applied by 5 September, and for what. Until PVARA publishes a list, the platform is the only one who can tell you.
  • Banks still cannot settle your crypto trades. Until the first licence is issued, the State Bank's circular gives no bank a basis to run client-money accounts for a crypto firm. P2P trading carries on outside that system, with the risks that brings.
  • Watch for the register. The rules call for a public register of licensees. When it appears, it will be the first official answer to "who is legal".

What we're watching

  • Whether PVARA publishes who filed the 75, how many firms that is, and a breakdown by type of application.
  • The first NOC decisions, from about 4 November.
  • Binance's and HTX's licence applications, due by about 21 November.
  • The first PVARA licence, and the first bank to open a client-money account under the State Bank's circular.

Sources

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