Pakistan has ended one of the longest-running banking prohibitions in global crypto. On April 14, 2026, the State Bank of Pakistan issued BPRD Circular Letter No. 10 of 2026, allowing licensed banks to open and maintain accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers holding a valid No Objection Certificate or full license from the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA). The circular replaces the April 2018 directive that had blocked banks from processing any transaction linked to virtual assets. It sits on top of the Virtual Assets Act, 2026, passed by Parliament in March 2026, which converted PVARA from a temporary presidential body into a permanent statutory regulator. For a market of roughly 259 million people as of mid-2026, the world’s fifth-largest by population, the combination of a statute, a regulator, and banking access changes the operating environment overnight.
The following guest post was written by Farhan Haider (@iamFHG), Verse Community Member
The rescission letter does not hand banks an open mandate. It permits regulated banks to provide services to VASPs registered with PVARA, and it sets conditions. Client crypto funds must sit in segregated accounts, separated from standard client deposits. Banks themselves cannot hold, trade, or invest in virtual assets with their own balance sheet or with customer money. Every VASP client must be screened against AML and sanctions obligations, with ongoing monitoring tied to the bank’s existing compliance stack.
