Pakistan spins up crypto crime-fighters while scholars debate if the assets are even "wealth" 🪙

Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency has established a dedicated cryptocurrency investigation unit inside its newly operational National Command and Control Centre (NC3) to probe money laundering and terrorism financing conducted through virtual currencies, the agency's counter-terrorism chief said. FIA Counter-Terrorism Wing Director Dr Muhammad Athar Waheed told Dawn the unit would investigate the criminal use of crypto, while regulation of digital assets sits with the recently created Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA). He urged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force to build similar units and said new rules were being drafted to wrap up inquiries within fixed timeframes.

The NC3 platform consolidates the FIA's financial-crime tools, including anti-money laundering and virtual-currency investigation desks, an Interpol coordination point, and units for open-source intelligence, cyber patrolling and dark web investigation. Pakistan, which ranked third in the Chainalysis 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, has moved aggressively to formalize the sector: Islamabad has lifted an eight-year crypto banking ban, created PVARA, begun advancing licences for crypto exchanges and explored tokenizing state assets. The country's central bank formally rescinded its 2018 crypto restrictions in a letter issued this week, in line with the Virtual Assets Act of 2026, a regulatory framework enacted for the industry.

Pakistan has also woven crypto into its diplomacy with Washington, striking a deal with an affiliate of World Liberty Financial — the Trump family's crypto venture — to explore using its USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments. PVARA chairman Bilal bin Saqib has asked the Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi seminary, which ruled in June that cryptocurrency is not "wealth" under Islamic law and therefore not a valid means of payment, to distinguish between purely speculative tokens and asset-backed instruments such as fully reserved stablecoins and blockchain-recorded sukuk. Bin Saqib told Reuters Pakistan could "lead the world in Shariah-compliant digital finance," while the new FIA unit gives Islamabad an enforcement arm to match its regulatory ambitions.