Islamabad:
The federal government and the central bank reiterated Thursday that the use of cryptocurrencies was illegal and that any person dealing with these currencies was likely to be studied by the financial monitoring unit (FMU) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The statements were made by the Federal Secretary of Imdad Ullah Bosal and the Executive Director of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Sohail Jawad, at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Finance.
The development also came a day after the Prime Minister’s new special assistant on crypto and blockchain, Bilal Bin Saqib, made land for the promotion of cryptocurrencies during his visit to the United States.
Crypto is not a legal currency in Pakistan, said Bosal. He recommended that the Committee invite Pakistan Crypto Council (CCC) for an additional briefing. SAPM Bilal Bin Saqib is also Managing Director of the PCC.
“The work on cryptocurrency is at a very, very preliminary stage and each time the government decides to go further, we first recommend a complete legal and regulatory framework,” said Bosal, adding that so far, there was no such framework.
Located on the Committee, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the MNA Sharmila Faruqi, raised the issue of contradictory policy by the government with regard to the promotion of cryptocurrencies in Pakistan.
“There does not seem to be a legal framework for cryptocurrencies despite the fact that Pakistan recently left the working group on financial action [FATF] Gray list, “she said.
In response, Jawad hoped that the PCC would imply that other stakeholders agree on a solid legal and regulatory framework.
While the finance secretary said to the National Assembly Committee that the use of cryptocurrencies was illegal in Pakistan, his ministry promoted these new currencies thanks to a different set of announcements, at least two of them that were released this week.
Jawad, the executive director of the SBP, said that in 2018, the Central Bank had published instructions to its regulated entities. “Under these instructions which are still valid, the trade and detention of cryptocurrencies are illegal, and these entities are required to report these cases to the FMU for investigation in progress by the FIA,” he said.
Earlier in the day, a declaration from the Ministry of Finance quoted Bilal Bin Saqib saying that the Government of Pakistan allocated 2,000 megawatts of excess electricity in phase 1 for bitcoin extraction and artificial intelligence data centers (AI).
Bilal Bin Saqib also said that this would open doors to sovereign minors, technological companies and clean energy partners in the world. To exploit this momentum, SAQIB also directs the creation of Pakistan Digital Authority Authority (PDAA), he added.
The PDAA would be a regulatory organization designed to empower manufacturers, protect investors and formalize digital financing managers for the future, according to the ministry. However, the procedure of the Committee revealed a gulf between the legal framework of Pakistan and the ambitions of the country to follow the path of the promotion of digital currencies.
The executive director of the SBP said that there was only one country in the world which declared the crypto as a call for offers, but that it also decided to withdraw the decision. He said that there were different forms of digital currencies, including bitcoins, stable parts, other coins and non -butties and all these classes would require a separate set of regulations.
Even if cryptocurrencies are prohibited as calls for legal tenders, it is always used to send money abroad, including to buy used cars from Japan, said Mna Usama Mela from Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI). There is an impression that the government itself would use parts using the 2,000 megawatts of recently allocated electricity, he added.
The Committee was also investigated the legal support of the Council to which the finance secretary said that so far the Council worked under the decrees of the Prime Minister, but the government provided for a law to give it legal coverage.
The way in which cryptocurrencies are promoted in the government by the government, the people began to invest massively who also caused a price increase, said Mirza Ikhtiar Baig of the PPP.
The Ministry of Finance declared in its press release that Bilal Bin Saqib had spoke before an elite audience who understood the American vice-president JD Vance, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, to Bitcoin Vegas 2025. Present an opening speech, he unveiled the first vision of Bitcoin Global Maping, a new vision of Pakistan Pakistan, and with a new radically visited vision led by Pakistan on Pakistan on Pakistan.
“Pakistan is no longer defined by its past. It is reborn as the center of the future of digital innovation – powered by its youth, sharpened by necessity, and led by a new generation of technological state,” said Bilal.
“I am not only here as a minister,” he continued, “I am here as a voice of a generation-an online, chain and unstoppable generation.”
Bilal has announced the creation of a Bitcoin national portfolio, already holding digital assets in police custody, not for sale or speculation, but as a sovereign reserve signaling a long -term belief in decentralized finance. He also thanked President Donald Trump for his role as peacemaker in the recent Indian-Pakistani conflict and for his commitment to the adoption of cryptography.
