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No: SBP did not legalize cryptocurrency as legal tender through a 2025 bill. Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Act, 2026 established a regulatory framework for covered virtual-asset activity and created the basis for licensing and supervision by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA). Under current SBP instructions, banks may serve virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that hold a valid PVARA licence, subject to verification and safeguards. That is regulated access to banking—not blanket approval for every crypto business or a declaration that crypto is official money.
What changed in Pakistan’s virtual-asset rules?
The legal position moved from restrictions on regulated financial institutions dealing in virtual currencies and tokens to a statutory framework for covered virtual-asset businesses. The key distinction is that regulation of providers and activities does not make a virtual asset legal tender.
| Date | Instrument or action | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| April 6, 2018 | SBP circular on virtual currencies and tokens | Advised banks, development finance institutions, microfinance banks, payment-system operators and payment-service providers to refrain from specified dealings. It also said virtual currencies and tokens were not legal tender issued or guaranteed by Pakistan’s government. |
| May 30, 2025 | SBP clarification on the legal status of virtual assets | SBP explained that its 2018 advice reflected the absence of a legal and regulatory framework, “not because it was declared illegal in the country.” |
| August 15, 2025 | Virtual Assets Bill, 2025 | The Senate record lists the bill as introduced. |
| September 5, 2025 | Virtual Assets Ordinance, 2025 | The National Assembly record lists the ordinance as laid. The Senate bill record describes the ordinance as laid first and treated as a bill. |
| March 4–5, 2026 | Virtual Assets Act, 2026 | The Senate acts record lists the Act as Act XIII of 2026, assented to March 4 and gazetted March 5. The Gazette says it applies across Pakistan and comes into force at once. |
The 2025 bill is therefore not the latest legal instrument. The enacted 2026 Act is the relevant statute, while SBP’s subsequent banking instructions set conditions for regulated entities considering accounts for licensed VASPs.
Does the Act make cryptocurrency legal tender?
No. Legal tender status and permission to conduct regulated virtual-asset business are separate questions. The Act provides for licensing and oversight of covered activity; it does not, on the evidence of the cited materials, make cryptocurrency money issued or guaranteed by the Government of Pakistan. The 2018 SBP circular explicitly said virtual currencies and tokens were not legal tender, and the 2025 clarification addressed the meaning of that earlier restriction rather than announcing legal-tender status.
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For that reason, “crypto is legal” is too broad to be a useful summary. A particular provider may fall under the Act and require a PVARA licence, a bank may serve a properly licensed VASP under SBP safeguards, and the asset itself may still not be legal tender.
What activities and entities does the Act cover?
The Gazette text applies to a virtual-asset service provider that carries on, or presents itself as carrying on, a virtual-asset service in or from Pakistan. It also applies to an issuer offering, originating or distributing a virtual asset in or from Pakistan.
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The Act describes exclusions for some closed-ecosystem or closed-loop digital tokens, but only when the stated statutory conditions are met. That is not a general exemption for tokens that can be transferred, exchanged, redeemed or used beyond the qualifying restricted environment. A business should assess the Act’s actual definitions and conditions rather than assume its token is excluded because it is marketed as an in-app or closed-loop asset.
Can a crypto company open a bank account in Pakistan?
Under SBP’s current circular, regulated entities may open accounts for entities duly licensed by PVARA as VASPs, subject to the circular’s conditions. This replaces the 2018 SBP BPRD circular. It does not mean that any crypto company can demand an account or that ordinary account rules and controls no longer apply.
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- Banks must obtain and retain a copy of the VASP’s valid PVARA licence and independently verify its authenticity.
- Where the VASP’s business model requires it, the bank must open separate transactional accounts for client money.
- Client funds and the VASP’s own funds must not be commingled.
SBP describes PVARA as the statutory authority responsible for licensing, regulation, supervision and oversight of virtual-asset activities in Pakistan. The account permission is therefore conditional on licensing and safeguards, rather than a general SBP endorsement of virtual assets or every company operating in the sector. See the SBP circular on bank accounts for PVARA NOC/licensed VASPs and their customers for the operative instructions.
How to read the law without confusing the key terms
- Legal tender: Whether an asset is officially recognized as money issued or guaranteed by the state. The cited Act and SBP materials do not establish that status for cryptocurrency.
- Regulated activity: Whether providing a service involving virtual assets falls within the Act’s scope. Covered providers and issuers may be subject to its framework.
- Licence: Whether a VASP has the required authorization from PVARA. A bank must verify the valid licence before opening an account under the SBP circular.
- Bank access: Whether a regulated financial institution may serve a qualifying VASP under SBP’s conditions, including segregation of client money where applicable.
Keeping those questions separate gives a more accurate answer than saying simply that Pakistan “legalized crypto.”
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What the 2025 bill means now
The bill was part of the legislative path, but it was superseded by the Virtual Assets Act, 2026. For current questions about the legal framework, PVARA licensing or bank accounts, the 2026 Act and the applicable SBP circular are the pertinent instruments—not the bill’s 2025 introduction alone.
The Senate committee discussed the bill in September 2025 and identified discrepancies and proposed amendments, as recorded in its September 10, 2025 press release. The later Act, rather than those earlier legislative stages, establishes the enacted framework described above.
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