Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal bin Saqib has asked Jamia Darul Uloom to draw a distinction between speculative cryptocurrencies and asset-backed digital tokens, its chief said on Wednesday.
The crypto czar told Reuters he had asked for the clarification after the seminary ruled last month that crypto-based purchases were not permissible under Islamic law.
The religious decree, or fatwa, has cast doubt on the government’s rapid embrace of cryptocurrency in Pakistan, which has long ranked among the world’s largest crypto markets by retail activity.
Mufti Taqi Usmani and six others had declared purchasing goods with cryptocurrency “impermissible” in a fatwa (religious decree) issued on June 10. It described cryptocurrency as “merely the recording of fictitious numbers in an account”.
Saqib said the regulator is in discussions with the seminary to assess digital assets by category, not as a single class.
