Pakistan lifts seven-year ban, allowing banks to service crypto providers

[Oshosondy]

Pakistan Virtual Assets Act 2026 was officially passed by Pakistan's Parliament and signed into law which will make the country be able to tokenized state assets and expand bitcoin mining and have a national stable coins.

I did not know when that happened until today that I saw that the Pakistan’s central bank has lifted its 7 years ban on crypto services, allowing banks and financial institutions to serve licensed crypto firms under a new regulatory framework.

While banks may open accounts for virtual asset service providers approved by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, they remain barred from trading, investing in or holding crypto with their own funds or customer deposits.

You can read about it further:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/15/pakistan-lifts-seven-year-ban-allowing-banks-to-service-virtual-asset-providers

[Upgrade00]

I've been searching for content on the initial ban but cannot find it. If it's simply a ban on banks from directly mediating crypto transactions, the citizens will not mind much. We have a similar ban in Nigeria for many years now which led to the growth of the P2P market making it one of the largest P2P markets globally, I can see that Pakistan is also very high on the list as well.

Regardless, it's still positive news as it'll attract some percentage of users who prefer to trade directly, topping up their accounts from their banks and getting the withdrawals directly too.

[Dunamisx]

Pakistan Virtual Assets Act 2026 was officially passed by Pakistan's Parliament and signed into law which will make the country be able to tokenized state assets and expand bitcoin mining and have a national stable coins.

Things are fast changing and we are now seeing many countries adopt Bitcoin instead of their initial decision not to allow for Bitcoin in their country, honestly I'm also surprised seeing this, because I don't expect such coming from Pakistan this fast, not even when they already once go against Bitcoin and then now in full support, after realizing what's the metaverse at the time.

[3kpk3]

Let me guess. Trump probably made some sort of deal with the Pakistan PM(Sharif) which could be mutually beneficial to both sides due to which they ended up lifting this ban out of nowhere. The timing of this particular action does not seem to be a mere coincidence to me.

It could just be a wild guess of mine though. Either way, it's good for the crypto world on the whole which is what truly matters at the end of the day.

[ColdLava40]

Pakistan Virtual Assets Act 2026 was officially passed by Pakistan's Parliament and signed into law which will make the country be able to tokenized state assets and expand bitcoin mining and have a national stable coins.

Things are fast changing and we are now seeing many countries adopt Bitcoin instead of their initial decision not to allow for Bitcoin in their country, honestly I'm also surprised seeing this, because I don't expect such coming from Pakistan this fast, not even when they already once go against Bitcoin and then now in full support, after realizing what's the metaverse at the time.

Banks and crypto just don't mix.

It's interesting news, but it's nothing we haven't seen before.

I'll just think of it as a way to benefit the government and not the people. They want exchanges to operate so they can task them in return. I might be wrong though. If they truly lift a ban, it should also apply to banks being able to own it.

[Franctoshi]

Pakistan Virtual Assets Act 2026 was officially passed by Pakistan's Parliament and signed into law which will make the country be able to tokenized state assets and expand bitcoin mining and have a national stable coins.

I did not know when that happened until today that I saw that the Pakistan’s central bank has lifted its 7 years ban on crypto services, allowing banks and financial institutions to serve licensed crypto firms under a new regulatory framework.

While banks may open accounts for virtual asset service providers approved by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, they remain barred from trading, investing in or holding crypto with their own funds or customer deposits.

You can read about it further:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/15/pakistan-lifts-seven-year-ban-allowing-banks-to-service-virtual-asset-providers

It's an Interesting headline news though for the citizens of this country because Nigeria were once in such situation like this which affected the transactions of many crypto enthusiast here and until the ban was also lifted but it was not up to 7 years, this ban lift will help in the ease of doing cryptocurrency transactions in Pakistan compared to when this ban was still in place. Generally kind of a good news as resumption of crypto transactions will gradually kick-off.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

While banks may open accounts for virtual asset service providers approved by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, they remain barred from trading, investing in or holding crypto with their own funds or customer deposits.

You can read about it further:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/15/pakistan-lifts-seven-year-ban-allowing-banks-to-service-virtual-asset-providers

That’s the bad news for Pakistani banks although if anyone knows how the bank works they have very many other ways to invest and make profit from customers deposit
But what is the purpose of preventing banks to invest in cryptocurrency, if they are now allowed to service cryptocurrency providers.

[Fiatless]

Banks and crypto just don't mix.

It's interesting news, but it's nothing we haven't seen before.

I'll just think of it as a way to benefit the government and not the people. They want exchanges to operate so they can task them in return. I might be wrong though. If they truly lift a ban, it should also apply to banks being able to own it.

Banks and crypto can mix. As much as customers are ready to do KYC, banks can fully offer crypto-related services. Some banks in Europe and the US are already offering crypto services to their customers.

It will benefit the government as well as citizens who don't care about decentralization or privacy.  

Anyway, it's good news since it will increase crypto awareness and adoption in Pakistan.

[buwaytress]

I've been searching for content on the initial ban but cannot find it. If it's simply a ban on banks from directly mediating crypto transactions, the citizens will not mind much.

Yup! Can't remember when but I've talked about this also (have some experience in Pakistan). The various states of bans and sanctions on crypto nationally has never been a worry for the citizens. Not a single arrest to my knowledge, and the P2P peeps over there confirm they've never had any problems (even more relaxed really, than say, certain Southeast Asian countries with supposedly more lenient infrastructure).

Never really thought actual crypto providers (with licences) would change things. This is one place where P2P has been for 15 years, the way to go.

P.S. 3kpk3 might have a point. Timing seems awfully strange. Orange mascots for overnight crypto startups in PK anyone?

[Spaceman1000$]

Pakistan Virtual Assets Act 2026 was officially passed by Pakistan's Parliament and signed into law which will make the country be able to tokenized state assets and expand bitcoin mining and have a national stable coins.

I did not know when that happened until today that I saw that the Pakistan’s central bank has lifted its 7 years ban on crypto services, allowing banks and financial institutions to serve licensed crypto firms under a new regulatory framework.

While banks may open accounts for virtual asset service providers approved by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, they remain barred from trading, investing in or holding crypto with their own funds or customer deposits.

You can read about it further:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/15/pakistan-lifts-seven-year-ban-allowing-banks-to-service-virtual-asset-providers

I feel there is sinister move somewhere, what was the initial reason as why they gave the ban, because all I can see here is ban that has been lifted with much conditions attached to it. They should outrightly allow institutions to trade and hold their Crypto assets, instead of just being a service provider. Maybe this is just the first step on the ban lifting, probably with time all the other conditions will be let loose too, so let's just take this to be a stepping stone.

[Cookdata]

Banks and crypto just don't mix.

It's interesting news, but it's nothing we haven't seen before.

I'll just think of it as a way to benefit the government and not the people. They want exchanges to operate so they can task them in return. I might be wrong though. If they truly lift a ban, it should also apply to banks being able to own it.

They don't mix but most often, this is the quickest way to onboard everyone to buy Bitcoin. Pakistan might just be like my country, we are one of the top most active crypto user based but our government are very intolerant with Bitcoin and crypto due to what some centralized exchanges has done in the country over the years and such the ban on most of the exchanges make it impossible for many people to buy and sell Bitcoin and other coins, they don't want to use decentralize exchanges due to their complexity.

Some people understand the implications of banks, the centralized exchanges but they used them when they want to buy and sell. The online time you see some use their bank app is when they want to buy some Bitcoin and as soon as they are done, they withdraw to personal wallet and that's it for that moment until the have another money to buy again.

[Zaguru12]

Let me guess. Trump probably made some sort of deal with the Pakistan PM(Sharif) which could be mutually beneficial to both sides due to which they ended up lifting this ban out of nowhere. The timing of this particular action does not seem to be a mere coincidence to me.

It could just be a wild guess of mine though. Either way, it's good for the crypto world on the whole which is what truly matters at the end of the day.

So your guess is amidst all this crisis that Donald trump is dealing with, looking for maybe investors or allies for his country and what he does with a country in talks is to talk about cryptocurrency? I think you people rate this this Trump too much in this space, it’s actually great that you said it’s a wild thought.

It’s just the country trying to find away out economically and this is part of the policies and this has nothing to do with trump meeting with the PM

[Upgrade00]

Yup! Can't remember when but I've talked about this also (have some experience in Pakistan). The various states of bans and sanctions on crypto nationally has never been a worry for the citizens.

I actually prefer a system where the government and its institutions stay away from crypto and it's operations. It's better for privacy of users as banks don't have direct access to each of your crypto deposits and withdrawals. Even if you're using p2p on a centralized exchange, the government will still need to petition them to get information on any of their users.

The timing does seem strange if there was no protest for the ban to be lifted. I initially assumed it'll have something to do with them realizing they can get profits from taxing those transactions.

[Orpichukwu]

While banks may open accounts for virtual asset service providers approved by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, they remain barred from trading, investing in or holding crypto with their own funds or customer deposits.

This part of their rules could be seen as a means to protect the bank from making financial mistakes that could lead them into bankruptcy. I mean, the market is too volatile; allowing the bank to directly trade on those assets, even if not directly customers' funds, could lead to a lot of trouble in just one wrong trade.

[rat03gopoh]

Let me guess. Trump probably made some sort of deal with the Pakistan PM(Sharif) which could be mutually beneficial to both sides due to which they ended up lifting this ban out of nowhere. The timing of this particular action does not seem to be a mere coincidence to me.

It could just be a wild guess of mine though. Either way, it's good for the crypto world on the whole which is what truly matters at the end of the day.

Given the recent closeness of the two countries, your asumption makes sense. Trump has several shittoken businesses, and they must continue even after his term ends, without any potential US legal restrictions that could pose a problem for him.

[peter0425]

The timing is a little interesting. Now that the entire world is struggling due to oil prices, and Iran is making use of crypto maybe it’s possible that other countries will find benefits as well in using crypto. They can’t run away from innovation because it will keep happening.

[JeffBrad12]

The timing is a little interesting. Now that the entire world is struggling due to oil prices, and Iran is making use of crypto maybe it’s possible that other countries will find benefits as well in using crypto. They can’t run away from innovation because it will keep happening.

Seems like it. They are preparing to pay oil with crypto it seems by lifting the ban and whatnot. All those seven year ban for any kind of crypto in that country just to lift it later and went full crypto.

[Outhue]

I saw this news two days ago too but I just laughed, and asked myself why now? Because it doesn't even make any difference or impact on crypto investors in Iran, I can remember when the same thing happened in my country, it went on for almost four years and it was later lifted but guess what? It doesn't felt like there was a ban really, because people understood clearly that peer to peer is the best way to get involved with crypto, the government became very powerless until later that they learned about what Peer to peer trading is all about, they had no choice than to drop the ban and find a way to tax crypto investors and crypto exchanges that are offering the peer to peer services to people in my country, so far it's been there own losses.

[john_egbert]

The timing is a little interesting. Now that the entire world is struggling due to oil prices, and Iran is making use of crypto maybe it’s possible that other countries will find benefits as well in using crypto. They can’t run away from innovation because it will keep happening.

Seems like it. They are preparing to pay oil with crypto it seems by lifting the ban and whatnot. All those seven year ban for any kind of crypto in that country just to lift it later and went full crypto.

Didn't we get used to such lifts and them being gone eventually? They may change their stance when it suits their agenda

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

While banks may open accounts for virtual asset service providers approved by the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority, they remain barred from trading, investing in or holding crypto with their own funds or customer deposits.

You can read about it further:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/04/15/pakistan-lifts-seven-year-ban-allowing-banks-to-service-virtual-asset-providers

This is actually a great news from the Pakistan government, by enabling banks to now offer it's service to crypto providers and industry, because with this new development, the Pakistan government is likely to have an alternative means of generating revenue, if every crypto transactions is been charged to pay a fee, and likewise this news is likely to increase crypto to a larger audience who might have heard about it, but never had the experience of experimenting how it's transaction works. And with this new law of enabling the use of crypto by its government and central bank of Pakistan. This is also another opportunity for crypto casinos that operate in Pakistan to now add it's fiat currency for direct deposit and withdrawal now.