Pakistan to establish Digital Assets Authority to regulate crypto, virtual assets economy

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has announced to establish the Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) to regulate digital assets and accelerate the growth of Pakistan’s digital assets economy.

In a statement released by the ministry, the government has approved the establishment of a dedicated body to regulate blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

“The aim is to ensure FATF-compliant innovation, economic inclusion, and responsible adoption of digital assets,” the finance ministry said.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, Pakistan must regulate not just to catch up — but to lead, adding that, “With the PDAA, we are creating a future-ready framework that protects consumers, invites global investment, and puts Pakistan at the forefront of financial innovation.”

The finance ministry said that PDAA will serve as a specialised regulatory body with a mandate to oversee licensing, compliance, and innovation within the digital asset ecosystem.

“It will regulate exchanges, custodians, wallets, tokenized platforms, stablecoins, and DeFi applications, all under a single framework.”

Moreover, it added that this “strategic decision aligns Pakistan with other forward-thinking economies such as the UAE, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong”, all of which have established digital asset regulators to foster innovation while ensuring compliance with global financial norms.

The digital assets authority is expected to regulate an over $25 billion informal crypto market, enable tokenization of national assets and government debt, provide legal clarity to global and local investors, facilitate monetization of Pakistan’s surplus electricity through regulated bitcoin mining, and empower young people and startups to build blockchain-based solutions at scale, the statement reads.

Earlier in March this year in Pakistan’s crypto news, Pakistan set up a national crypto council (PCC) to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in a bid to lure international investment.

One of the world’s most powerful people in crypto, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was subsequently appointed as a strategic adviser to the PCC.