The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) held its first board meeting in Islamabad, marking a pivotal milestone in Pakistan’s journey toward embracing blockchain, digital currencies and the digital economy, and outlining a roadmap that includes a licensing framework, sandbox testing, tax policies, regulatory drafting, and international engagement, while launching a complaint portal with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency to address crypto-related concerns.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, attending as a special invitee, described the move as a transformative milestone in Pakistan’s economic evolution and underscored the government”s commitment to fostering responsible adoption of digital assets while strengthening the financial system against illicit activity.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Blockchain and Crypto Bilal bin Saqib said the regulator will safeguard financial integrity while encouraging innovation, investment, and opportunity in the crypto space, with the aim of building domestic trust and boosting Pakistan”s credibility as a forward-looking participant in the global digital assets economy.

The board endorsed the formation of dedicated committees focused on sandbox experimentation, taxation policy, regulatory drafting, and international engagement, and a draft licensing regime was shared for consultation with a plan to finalize it in the coming days.

Additionally, the authority approved a complaint portal developed in collaboration with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency to address concerns related to digital assets and provide timely redress.