Pakistan's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority opened its licensing application portal Friday and declared an end to eight years of crypto prohibition, with providers facing a September 5 deadline to apply for No Objection Certificates or cease operations under the Virtual Assets Act.
Chairman Bilal Bin Saqib said in the announcement that existing providers must comply with the new regulatory regime. "Get licensed. Get compliant. Come build in Pakistan," Saqib said. The Virtual Assets Act, which established the regulator, gave existing operators a grace period to transition into the formal licensing framework.
Pakistan ranked third globally in Chainalysis's 2025 crypto adoption index, trailing only El Salvador and Argentina by some measures of peer-to-peer transaction volume and retail participation. The country has sustained peer-to-peer activity despite the formal prohibition that governed crypto commerce from 2018 until this year.
The PVARA's licensing regulations detail compliance requirements for exchanges, custodians, and other virtual asset service providers. The portal requires applicants to demonstrate anti-money-laundering controls, custody safeguards, and governance structures. The regulator said it will process applications on a rolling basis after the deadline.
Pakistan's move follows a pattern of emerging markets formalizing crypto regulation after years of informal activity. The country ranked third in global adoption metrics on peer-to-peer transaction volume and retail participation, driven by strong remittance demand and limited access to traditional banking in rural areas.
The September 5 deadline compresses an eight-year prohibition into a single regulatory window. Operators that fail to submit applications or receive NOCs after that date face mandatory shutdown under the act's enforcement provisions. The PVARA has not disclosed how many providers currently operate in Pakistan or how many applications it expects to receive.
