Pakistan’s main investigative agency, the FIA, has created a special team focused on tracking down illegal activities like money laundering and funding for terrorism that use cryptocurrencies.
The unit sits inside the FIA’s newly operational National Command and Control Centre, known as NC3.
Pakistan Builds an Enforcement Arm for Digital Assets
Dr. Muhammad Athar Waheed, head of the FIA’s Counter-Terrorism Wing, explained to Dawn that his team focuses on investigating criminal activity involving cryptocurrency, not on regulating the crypto market itself. The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) remains the only body responsible for licensing and supervising virtual assets.
Waheed also encouraged the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force to create their own specialized teams like this one.
Pakistan’s actions reflect a growing worldwide effort to combat crime involving cryptocurrencies. Recently, U.S. authorities have filed charges in multiple cases accusing people of offenses like money laundering, fraud, and other crimes using digital assets.
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Pakistan has been actively developing its policies around digital assets lately. Just last year, reports indicated they were working on a legal framework to allow cryptocurrency trading.
As a crypto investor, I was really watching things in early 2026 when Parliament finally passed the Virtual Assets Act. It’s a big deal because it basically created a complete set of rules for the crypto world and digital finance in general. It’s good to see some clear regulations coming into place.
Additionally, the PVARA was established. Following this, the State Bank of Pakistan made it easier for cryptocurrency companies to use banking services. They removed a rule from 2018 that had previously prevented banks and other financial institutions from working with virtual assets for seven years.
This country is also a major player in the global cryptocurrency market, ranking third worldwide in crypto adoption according to the 2025 Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index. Only India and the United States have higher adoption rates.
The crackdown on cryptocurrency comes at a time when religious leaders in Pakistan are still divided on the issue. While this new government unit will help enforce regulations, the question of whether crypto aligns with Islamic law remains unanswered.
2026-07-22 09:36