By Syed Shabbar Zaidi Syed Shabbar Zaidi & Co
General
The President of Pakistan has promulgated an Ordinance by the name of Virtual Assets Ordinance 2025. The Ordinance which shall come in force at once on July 8, 2025 has been issued to establish a regulatory authority for the licensing, regulation, and supervision of Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers, and to provide for related matters.
The Ordinance came into force on July 8, 2025. There is no retrospective application. Thus at this stage there is no approved virtual asset, issuer or service provider in Pakistan.
This effectively also means that ‘cryptocurrency’ or any such similar transactions which were undertaken in the past or which will be undertaken, if not in contravention of the foreign exchange law are permissible; however, no legal right can be enforced in Pakistan for such transactions.
What is a Virtual Asset?
Virtual asset is, in principle, a digital currency issued by any entity. This may be called a coin or a token. That non-tender coin or token can be used fo