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

[SquallLeonhart]

Definitely a good thing, we should be happy about it, I do not know how much this will make bitcoin sustain more or not, hell I do not know if this new increase was maybe because of this or not, I would not know. But the reality is that, even if it's a small impact, we should still be happy whenever a bitcoin ban is gone.

You would never guess how the future will be, maybe the impact is big now, or maybe it is not, but certainly the option to have a possibility of a big investment being wide open now is a good thing, doesn't matter if it will happen or not, the possibility is there, and that's what matters.

[snowpega]

...
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

As a Pakistani, I can confirm that it is official that we can now use banks to buy or sell crypto in the form of P2P.
A big tribute goes to the CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council, Bilal Bin Saqib. Well, I personally haven't yet used banks to sell or buy crypto directly.
And I will not use it until I get some mature/strong statements from some experienced people. We have been using JazzCash and Easypaisa banking apps in Pakistan to buy and sell crypto or to perform P2P. These two apps are secure apps that did not have any of their physical existence in real time, but with the passage of time, they both came to the real-time banking system and gave hard competition in the banking system market. And now things are moving smoothly in a good way, and Pakistan is developing very well in the crypto space as well.

[Die_empty]

As a Pakistani, I can confirm that it is official that we can now use banks to buy or sell crypto in the form of P2P.
A big tribute goes to the CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council, Bilal Bin Saqib. Well, I personally haven't yet used banks to sell or buy crypto directly.
And I will not use it until I get some mature/strong statements from some experienced people. We have been using JazzCash and Easypaisa banking apps in Pakistan to buy and sell crypto or to perform P2P. These two apps are secure apps that did not have any of their physical existence in real time, but with the passage of time, they both came to the real-time banking system and gave hard competition in the banking system market. And now things are moving smoothly in a good way, and Pakistan is developing very well in the crypto space as well.

Good to hear from someone from Pakistan who has confirmed that the government has lifted these restrictions on crypto operations. There might be some hitches in the operations of these banks since it is a new development. But as these banks and other crypto-related firms gain more experience, errors will be reduced to a large extent, and services will become seamless.

I hope citizens are allowed to use decentralized platforms because not everyone would like to deal with centralized platforms.

[Alpha Marine]

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.

It's just a matter of time. With time, they will be more open to crypto. The same goes for other countries that ban crypto in one way or another. With time, they will see that it is more favourable for them to allow people in their country to tap into the market. Worst-case scenario, there will be a lot of regulations.

Even right now, when banks are not allowed to trade, invest or hold crypto, they would be allowed to do so in future. It may be in 10, 15, or 20 years, but the time will come. More countries banned crypto previously, but now that they are seeing the benefits and how much they can get from taxes, they are allowing it even though some are still stubborn.

[bhadz]

As a Pakistani, I can confirm that it is official that we can now use banks to buy or sell crypto in the form of P2P.
A big tribute goes to the CEO of the Pakistan Crypto Council, Bilal Bin Saqib. Well, I personally haven't yet used banks to sell or buy crypto directly.
And I will not use it until I get some mature/strong statements from some experienced people. We have been using JazzCash and Easypaisa banking apps in Pakistan to buy and sell crypto or to perform P2P. These two apps are secure apps that did not have any of their physical existence in real time, but with the passage of time, they both came to the real-time banking system and gave hard competition in the banking system market. And now things are moving smoothly in a good way, and Pakistan is developing very well in the crypto space as well.

This is good to read from someone who's actually from Pakistan. Because the opinion of people is different from how the timing was made and how it's beneficial for the citizens there. Not too different from the status of the banks in my country, despite that there's no ban but they're too strict with any transaction related to crypto or if the depositor himself declares that the money came from crypto, they're having some raised eyebrows with it. Yet, we've got the banks as well that are involved in crypto.

[348Judah]

I have an advice to every citizen of Pakistan and even other countries around the world, does your country permit for a smooth running of Bitcoin activities and crypto related shouldn't be your reason to trust them and neglect your privacy at your own cost, because they are regulation may not be favorable to what you may want to achieve as part of your reason to why you are coming for bitcoin adoption, this is more of decentralization and we don't expect regulation to be effective, therefore, learn how you can be independent by making use of non-costodial storage for yourself and maintain privacy in what you do from within your country.

[Compromise me]

This is good to read from someone who's actually from Pakistan. Because the opinion of people is different from how the timing was made and how it's beneficial for the citizens there. Not too different from the status of the banks in my country, despite that there's no ban but they're too strict with any transaction related to crypto or if the depositor himself declares that the money came from crypto, they're having some raised eyebrows with it. Yet, we've got the banks as well that are involved in crypto.

I also believe that the people of Pakistan must be clear about this but they mostly share their statements about crypto through social apps so it is easy for everyone. I have also seen about this, there are some problems regarding crypto in Pakistan, the biggest problem of which is their religion on the basis of which they do not accept crypto but apart from that, crypto is not considered wrong by their religion. If they accept crypto then it will be difficult for the people there to pay 30% tax. Such reasons create difficulties for their people due to which their people will also receive their money by paying taxes instead of putting their money at risk. The advantage in your country is that you also have banks that do not charge taxes and easily deliver your money to you.  Such facilities are available in very few countries, so the development of crypto there is also quite good, and there is talk about Pakistan and it is hoped that Pakistan will also join the crypto-accepting countries.

[Emitdama]

This is good to read from someone who's actually from Pakistan. Because the opinion of people is different from how the timing was made and how it's beneficial for the citizens there. Not too different from the status of the banks in my country, despite that there's no ban but they're too strict with any transaction related to crypto or if the depositor himself declares that the money came from crypto, they're having some raised eyebrows with it. Yet, we've got the banks as well that are involved in crypto.

I also believe that the people of Pakistan must be clear about this but they mostly share their statements about crypto through social apps so it is easy for everyone. I have also seen about this, there are some problems regarding crypto in Pakistan, the biggest problem of which is their religion on the basis of which they do not accept crypto but apart from that, crypto is not considered wrong by their religion. If they accept crypto then it will be difficult for the people there to pay 30% tax. Such reasons create difficulties for their people due to which their people will also receive their money by paying taxes instead of putting their money at risk. The advantage in your country is that you also have banks that do not charge taxes and easily deliver your money to you.  Such facilities are available in very few countries, so the development of crypto there is also quite good, and there is talk about Pakistan and it is hoped that Pakistan will also join the crypto-accepting countries.

Whenever there is a big ban lifted, anywhere in the world, at first there will be some scare. Because people are not sure about what's going to happen and they are not sure that if they are going to have anything else, like instead of jail maybe a fine or something like that and they are not sure how "legal" it is .This is why it is going to take some time, because we are going to see some people go with it and then they are going to share, and the more people do that the more people will feel more comfortable about it.

[Chibit01]

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.

Countries eyes are getting open, their fighr should not even be against crypto in the first place it should be on those who are using it for bad reasons just same way they fight those who commit crimes and transact on fiat, I belive they are all beginning to see reason why they have to accept it and lift all ban with or without the ban people still some how use it and they will miss out on benefiting from it through tax since it not legal. They are making the right decision but they should not just make a strick regulation as it might scare people away from using it openly.

[ZAINmalik75]

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.

Yes, the news is real, and it is exciting news for Pakistanis. Because they have lifted this ban officially this time, although they have lifted the ban earlier too but this time the laws and legal framework they have created is for the first time so there is no way they are going to ban crypto again. They have the greatest minds of crypto onboard, like the CZ he ex ceo of Binance and they even have Saylor as advisor.

The development in this sector is not new as many members was saying they have taken this step because of the war but that's not true, Pakistan has been working on this sector way before that, and they have streamlined most of the things, although they have given legal status to two exchanges as well, and they have barred banks to trade from their own money or from their customer's and that is good because they are taking one step at a time.

[DiMarxist]

Lifting the so called band on crypto and still restricting certain institutions from trading or investing in crypto is not a too good one. Why am saying it is because today the crypto community is talking about Institutional investment so banks should be allowed to trade and invest with their money. But good move from the Pakistan government for seeing reason to lift the band that they placed on crypto currency before. Crypto today is one thing that should not be overlooked by governments across the world.

[Orpichukwu]

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.

That should be what you have been looking for, and from the content the restriction was the same as what was also served to ask, which we run to P2P as an option, but ours could be a bit different compared to theirs due to how they could be very strict with their rules.



https://www.sbp.org.pk/bprd/2018/C3.htm

[HustleZ]

Pakistan------>>

That's correct and it's really a monumental change/ advancement and will really bring a positive impact to the Pakistani Crypto market as there are alot of users which didn't have a proper regulatory system and infrastructure to rely on, like if a scam or anything bad happens to Southend there was no system which could help you recover that as it is a thing not even recognised by the country, but now we're happy that there are advancements here and good to see they are serious about it and thinking About it, but most people are worried about the tax than they are about the advancements, haha 

Ps: @theymos can you consider about our board now??

[tbct_mt2]

That should be what you have been looking for, and from the content the restriction was the same as what was also served to ask, which we run to P2P as an option, but ours could be a bit different compared to theirs due to how they could be very strict with their rules.



https://www.sbp.org.pk/bprd/2018/C3.htm

It is still not too strict because with P2P trading, it sounds good if you do your trades and receive payment in cash. While trading in person and receiving payment in cash is quite risky, firstly with risk of physical attacks, and secondly risk of receiving fake cash.

If you do P2P trades with bank transfers, it's very unsafe if government in your nation already has very good bank system for tracking individual and company money flow, so that they can tax you with that money flow. In addition, if your bank accounts have bank transfer history and worse if it happens too often, with trade partners' bank accounts that have dirty money flows. If such trade partners have problems with government, arrested for example, your bank transfer history can become a dangerous thing to bring to many legal issues with government.

[X-ray]

Lifting the so called band on crypto and still restricting certain institutions from trading or investing in crypto is not a too good one. Why am saying it is because today the crypto community is talking about Institutional investment so banks should be allowed to trade and invest with their money. But good move from the Pakistan government for seeing reason to lift the band that they placed on crypto currency before. Crypto today is one thing that should not be overlooked by governments across the world.

Unfortunately they want to keep control and only strictly limiting the use of cryptocurrencies in their country. Maybe to keep people from putting their money to crypto too much and risking their own currency going down in value.

Although that might seems good to them but they missed a whole lot opportunity for their citizen to use the true decentralized currency and find alternative from banking system.

[Luzin]

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

For a start, this is quite good. The Pakistani government seems to be defensive and does not want to take risks regarding the Bank's role. The Bank can only provide services but cannot engage in activities related to trading, crypto investment, or crypto custody, so the Bank only acts as a channel. I do not view this negatively, but Pakistan is taking a cautious approach and I think this needs to be done so that Pakistan's financial economy can adapt, and perhaps over a certain period they can develop into a broader stage. CMIIW

[UchihaSarada]

For a start, this is quite good. The Pakistani government seems to be defensive and does not want to take risks regarding the Bank's role. The Bank can only provide services but cannot engage in activities related to trading, crypto investment, or crypto custody, so the Bank only acts as a channel. I do not view this negatively, but Pakistan is taking a cautious approach and I think this needs to be done so that Pakistan's financial economy can adapt, and perhaps over a certain period they can develop into a broader stage. CMIIW

In all nations, banks work in a national bank system under management of central banks and governments, so if governments in their countries are not friendly with cryptocurrency industry, there is no bank is ready to open their bank service for local people to use for activities related to cryptocurrencies. Local people can use their bank accounts for these activities but hide the fact of their bank transfers with banks.

If banks know about that, they will terminate those bank accounts for sure as they never want to have problems with central banks and governments in legal issues. In all nations, when governments and central banks change their policies and become more friendly with cryptocurrencies, commercial banks will change too and Pakistani banks are not exceptions.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Pakistan seems to be turning into a modest and friendly country that supports most of the recent innovations and development, unlike the way I used to approach them in the past, thinking they are even worse than countries like China, but to my surprise, they are now more friendly to Bitcoin even than most of the other countries we thought could have adopted Bitcoin.

[YellowSwap]

Polutting together something that's never going to be together, crypto and banks doesn't make any sense, yes they will try to make sense out of it, for people who don't get the whole picture.

They knew people are putting lots of money into crypto, they don't like that and the only way to get those money back is offering crypto services, people loves banks and they will say why not.

If you are not wise, I will tell you why you aren't, avoid banks with your crypto wallet, if banks are offering crypto services there is no more anything hidden to them, they will know about everything you have in crypto.

[Hazink]

Pakistan seems to be turning into a modest and friendly country that supports most of the recent innovations and development, unlike the way I used to approach them in the past, thinking they are even worse than countries like China, but to my surprise, they are now more friendly to Bitcoin even than most of the other countries we thought could have adopted Bitcoin.

And that's what countries should be around. The more they go, the more new technology is emerging. They should study it and adopt welcoming innovations that also bring opportunities. It's understandable the first time if they don't accept it, as it could be seen that they still don't fully understand the technology and don't want something that will bring more negativity than positive but now that it's been fully studied and understood by expert those who are still neglecting it have their own selfish reason.