Finance and Revenue Minister Aisha Ghaus Pasha, in a speech to members of parliament, said cryptocurrency “will never be legalized in Pakistan.”
The secretary told senators that state financial regulators have been instructed to initiate work to ban all types of cryptocurrency services.
In a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, representatives from the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Information Technology voiced support for the government’s initiative.
In press comments, it was reported that a ban on cryptocurrency assets would be an important tool to combat money laundering and terrorist financing amid the financial and political instability in the country.
The Pakistan Banking Association (PBA), under the auspices of the State Bank of Pakistan, has entered into an agreement with Avanza Group to create a state blockchain-based eKYC banking data exchange platform.