Crypto policy in disarray as SBP, ministry insist ban is still in place

Amid growing official promotion of Bitcoin adoption, both the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Thursday said that cryptocurrency remains banned in the country and all its transactions are illegal under current regulations. During a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal said that although the prime minister had recently formed a Crypto Council — chaired by the finance minister — through an executive order to explore digital asset policy, a cryptocurrency ban is intact under SBP and SECP regulations. “There will be a legal framework only when the government formally takes a decision, but the current legal status is that crypto is not a legal tender in Pakistan,” Mr Bosal said, conceding that no parliamentary backing exists for cryptocurrency use.