Key Takeaways:
Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency established a dedicated cryptocurrency investigation unit to police money laundering and terrorism financing conducted through digital assets.
Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency set up a dedicated cryptocurrency investigation unit inside its new National Command and Control Centre, targeting money laundering and terrorism financing routed through virtual currencies.
"The unit will investigate the criminal use of crypto while PVARA remains responsible for regulating digital assets," Dr Muhammad Athar Waheed, director of the FIA's Counter-Terrorism Wing, told Dawn. He urged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force to build similar units to counter crypto's use in cybercrime and the drug trade.
The NC3 centre consolidates the FIA's financial-crime tools on one platform, including anti-money laundering and virtual-currency investigation desks, an Interpol coordination point, and units for open-source intelligence, cyber patrolling and dark web investigation. New rules are being drafted to wrap up inquiries within fixed timeframes, Waheed said.
The enforcement push gives Islamabad a policing arm to match its regulatory ambitions — even as the country's religious scholars debate whether crypto is permissible under Islamic law. PVARA chairman Bilal bin Saqib has asked the Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi seminary to distinguish between speculative tokens and asset-backed instruments such as fully reserved stablecoins and blockchain-recorded sukuk, telling Reuters that Pakistan could "lead the world in Shariah-compliant digital finance."
Regulatory push meets religious uncertainty
Pakistan ranked third in the Chainalysis 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, and the government has moved aggressively to formalize the sector. Islamabad lifted an eight-year crypto banking ban, created the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in July 2025, began advancing licenses for exchanges including Binance and HTX, and explored tokenizing state assets.
The country has also woven crypto into its diplomacy with Washington, striking a deal with an affiliate of World Liberty Financial — the Trump family's crypto venture — to explore using its USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments.
That embrace hit a snag in June, when the influential Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi seminary ruled that cryptocurrency is not "wealth" under Islamic law and therefore not a valid means of payment. The fatwa cast doubt on the government's plans, though Saqib has argued that asset-backed tokens such as fully reserved stablecoins should be treated differently from purely speculative instruments.
Dual-track enforcement model
The FIA unit gives Pakistan an enforcement framework alongside its licensing regime — a dual-track approach that mirrors strategies in jurisdictions such as Singapore and the UAE, where regulators have built both promotional and policing functions in parallel. With the unit now operational and PVARA issuing exchange licenses, Pakistan is building out both sides of its crypto regulatory architecture even as the question of whether digital assets are permissible under Islamic law remains unresolved.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
