A new "Virtual Assets Alliance" launches in Pakistan. It is not the regulator
The Virtual Assets Alliance of Pakistan says it will protect crypto users, but it has no legal powers and no government backing. Its second-in-command runs HTX's business in Pakistan, and the adoption ranking quoted at its launch is a year out of date.
Key takeaways
- The Virtual Assets Alliance of Pakistan was announced at an Islamabad press conference, first reported on 10 November.
- It says it has no regulatory powers and no government endorsement. The website of PVARA, the legal regulator, has nothing on it.
- HTX's Pakistan country manager is its senior vice-chairman. HTX holds a PVARA no-objection certificate, not a licence.
- The "third in the world" adoption rank cited at the launch comes from 2025. Pakistan is not in the 2026 top 20.
A group calling itself the Virtual Assets Alliance of Pakistan (VAAP) announced itself at a press conference in Islamabad, Daily Pakistan and Daily Times reported that evening. It says it wants to protect crypto users, raise awareness of cybersecurity, collect reliable data on how many Pakistanis use crypto, and support independent research.
The name is close to that of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), the regulator set up under the Virtual Assets Act, 2026. The two are not connected, and the alliance said so itself. Syed Ehtisham Hamdani, its senior vice-chairman, said VAAP is an industry alliance, not a regulator, and has no regulatory powers and no government endorsement, according to Pakistan Observer, Daily Times and Daily Pakistan.
Some headlines read "Pakistan launches alliance", which makes it sound like a state body. It is a private one.
Who is behind it
Two people were named at the launch.
The chair is Hinza Asif. All four Pakistani reports we read spell her name "Hunza". The Asia Web3 Alliance Japan's own site spells it "Hinza" and lists her as its "Founder & Representative Director". That alliance is a general incorporated association, a non-profit legal form in Japan, which works to connect Asian web3 firms with the Japanese market.
The senior vice-chairman is Mr Hamdani, whom all four reports describe as HTX's country manager for Pakistan. HTX, the exchange formerly called Huobi, is one of two exchanges that PVARA has cleared so far, along with Binance. PVARA granted both a no-objection certificate (NOC) in December 2025. An NOC is a preliminary clearance. It is not an operating licence, and no exchange in Pakistan holds a licence yet. Our licence tracker explains the difference.
By our reading of PVARA's rules, the two NOC holders have to apply for a full licence around 21 November. Missing that date does not end anything automatically. The rules provide for written notice and at least 30 business days to respond.
None of the four reports we read lists member companies or gives a website, email address or other contact for the alliance, and a web search on 11 November found none.
There is nothing unusual about an exchange's local staff joining an industry body. Trade associations exist in every regulated market. Readers should know who is in it, though, especially when that exchange's licence application falls due within days.
The "third in the world" figure
At the launch, Mr Hamdani said Pakistan ranks third in the world for crypto adoption, according to all four reports. He did not name the index. The figure matches Chainalysis's 2025 Global Adoption Index, which ranked Pakistan third, after India and the United States, for the year to June 2025.
That index has since been replaced. Chainalysis's 2026 index, published on 23 September and covering July 2025 to June 2026, uses a new method and ranks fewer countries. Brazil, the United States and Nigeria lead it. Pakistan is not in its headline table, "The top 20 countries by grassroots adoption", and the published text does not mention Pakistan. The two methods differ, so it would be wrong to say Pakistan "fell" to a particular place. The 2026 data does not support "third in the world".
Mr Hamdani was more careful about the other number often heard at events like this. He said the estimate of 20 million Pakistani crypto users is unverified and that no independent figure exists. That is right, and it is the one thing the alliance says it wants to fix.
What this means for Pakistani users
VAAP cannot license, inspect or penalise anyone, and it cannot order an exchange to return your money. Under the Virtual Assets Act, licensing and supervising virtual-asset firms is PVARA's job.
Two outlets said the launch followed incidents of crypto theft, without giving any cases or numbers. If you lose crypto to fraud or theft, these are the channels with legal force:
- PVARA's complaints portal. It takes reports of suspected fraud, firms operating without a licence, and misconduct by service providers. It says it will acknowledge a complaint within two business days and investigate within 30 to 60 days.
- The police and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which took over the FIA's cybercrime wing, for theft and fraud.
Before using any exchange or "crypto service", check its status on our licence tracker. If it is not there, PVARA has not cleared it. After last month's $6.3bn theft from Binance's hot wallets, the gap between a firm being cleared to apply and a firm being licensed and supervised matters.
What we're watching
- Whether VAAP publishes a membership list, a constitution and its funding sources.
- Whether PVARA says anything about the alliance, or about private bodies whose names resemble its own. As of 11 November its news page has no new items since December 2025.
- Whether HTX and Binance apply for full licences around 21 November, and whether PVARA says so.
- The data the alliance promises on how many Pakistanis use crypto. We will report it if the method is published.
