Pakistan is now ranked among the world’s top crypto adopters, with estimates suggesting locals hold tens of billions of dollars in digital assets, much of it traded on informal peer-to-peer platforms without proper KYC checks. This has raised fears that large sums are moving offshore outside the formal banking system, with the exchange companies’ association warning that hundreds of millions of dollars may have effectively vanished from regulated channels.
Regulators are still playing catch-up: newly created bodies such as the Pakistan Crypto Council and the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority have yet to issue detailed rules or fully license service providers, even as global standards from bodies like the FATF demand strict customer verification and monitoring. Until a robust, enforceable regulatory framework is in place, Pakistan’s booming grassroots crypto trade will continue to pose serious risks of money laundering, terror financing, and renewed scrutiny from international watchdogs.
