Pakistan opens banks to licensed crypto firms

TLDR

Pakistan has ended its banking ban on crypto firms, letting licensed providers access bank accounts under a new, tightly controlled regime.

1. The State Bank now allows banks to serve firms licensed by the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, reversing an eight-year ban while still prohibiting banks from trading or holding crypto.
2. Licensed crypto firms can finally run payments, payroll, and client funds through regulated rupee accounts, which could shift remittances and stablecoin use from informal channels into the formal system.
3. The real impact will depend on how quickly PVARA licences virtual asset firms and whether major banks actually open these accounts at scale over the next 1 to 2 years.

Deep Dive

1. What Changed Legally

Pakistans State Bank issued BPRD Circular Letter No. 10 of 2026, which lets regulated banks open accounts for virtual asset firms that are licensed by the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), implementing the Virtual Assets Act 2026. A CoinsKid community report notes that this overturns a 2018 restriction that had effectively blocked banks from working with crypto-linked entities and brings virtual asset firms into the regulated financial sector for the first time.

However, banks are still barred from investing in, trading, or holding crypto assets for themselves or for customers, and must keep client funds in segregated, non?interest?bearing local currency accounts under strict anti?money?laundering rules.

2. Impact On Users And Firms

For licensed exchanges and other virtual asset service providers, the biggest change is access to basic banking functions such as receiving customer deposits, paying staff, and settling trades through rupee client accounts. Coverage from Bitcoin.com highlights that Pakistan has tens of millions of crypto users and very large informal crypto volumes, with use cases centered on remittances, inflation hedging, and store of value.

If even a small share of those flows moves into PVARA?licensed channels, remittance users could gain more predictable rails and better legal protection, while regulators gain visibility into activity that previously sat in grey markets.

3. What To Watch Next

The framework gives permission, but execution depends on how fast PVARA can license firms and how willing major Pakistani banks are to onboard them and update their risk systems. Bitcoin.coms overview points to pilot discussions with large players (for example around stablecoins and tokenization) that will only scale if banks actually open these new client money accounts.

Watch for three signals: first, announcements of the first batch of PVARA?licensed exchanges or payment platforms; second, statements from top banks about launching services for them; and third, any data showing remittances or trading volumes shifting from informal channels to banked ones.

Conclusion

Pakistans move does not turn banks into crypto traders, but it does open a regulated pathway between the crypto ecosystem and the banking system. If licensing and bank adoption progress, a meaningful share of Pakistans large, informal crypto and remittance activity could migrate into supervised channels, improving usability and oversight while keeping traditional banks at arms length from direct crypto risk.