Yes, as a licensed activity. The Virtual Assets Act 2026 makes the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) the licensing body, and its offences target firms that provide services without a licence, not people who hold or trade crypto.

We read the text as passed by the National Assembly. Section 54 punishes anyone who wilfully provides an unlicensed virtual asset service with up to five years in prison, a fine of up to 50 million rupees, or both, and an unlawful initial virtual asset offering with up to three years or 25 million rupees. We found no offence for an individual who buys, holds or sells crypto, but the Act is long and we did not test every clause. The text carries no assent date. Dawn reported on 15 April 2026 that a State Bank circular says “the act has been enacted”.

The Act followed the Virtual Assets Ordinance 2025, which President Zardari promulgated on 8 July 2025. Section 70 gave firms already operating six months from commencement to apply for a licence or stop. PVARA’s licensing page turns that into a date: firms operating on 5 March 2026 or earlier had to file for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by 5 September 2026 or cease.

Banking moved the other way. A State Bank circular of 2018 barred banks from dealing in crypto. Finance Magnates reports that BPRD Circular Letter No. 10 of 2026 replaced that ban: banks may open accounts for firms that hold or seek a PVARA licence, but may not trade, invest in or hold crypto themselves. We could not open the State Bank’s own site, which returned a 403 error, so we rely on that report and on Dawn’s account of the same circular. The sections below cover who holds approval, who refuses Pakistanis, product limits, betting law and tax.

Which crypto exchanges work in Pakistan?

Most of the exchanges we track serve Pakistan, but none shows a full PVARA licence. Binance and HTX hold No Objection Certificates, which PVARA treats as the first step toward one.

PVARA’s news list carries an item dated 12 December 2025 on Binance and HTX, and The News reported the chairman, Bilal bin Saqib, calling them “not a blanket approval”. On the licensing page an NOC is valid for 3 months, extendable by up to 3, and “does not permit operating”. It lets a firm incorporate a Pakistani company and apply for a licence, which PVARA aims to decide within 90 days. The page says a public register of licensees is kept, but it links none and names no licensed firm. We found no published count of NOCs or licences, and no record of whether either exchange has since applied.

Table of tracked exchanges and their position with PVARA. Binance: no Pakistani company found, No Objection Certificate announced by PVARA on 12 December 2025, available. HTX: no Pakistani company found, No Objection Certificate announced on 12 December 2025, available. A No Objection Certificate is not a licence: it lasts 3 months, lets a firm incorporate locally and apply for a licence, and does not permit it to operate. No NOC, application or licence was found for the other 20 tracked platforms, and PVARA links no public register of licensees.

Binance and HTX are the only tracked platforms named in PVARA’s updates. HTX’s user agreement of September 2026 names the laws of Pakistan as its governing law in clause 17.10.2, which we found no explanation for in the agreement. We found no Pakistani company for either exchange, and no NOC, application or licence for any other tracked platform.

Best crypto platforms for Pakistani residents

By our access score, eight exchanges tie at 8.0 out of 10 for Pakistani residents, Binance and HTX among them. Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp and Crypto.com score 7.5, only because we have not tested them from Pakistan.

The score rates how fully a Pakistani resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the Pakistani licences we hold on file (2) and what our geo-access test saw from a Pakistani address (1). We hold no licence row for Pakistan, because an NOC is not a licence, so every platform scores 0 on licences. Platforms that refuse Pakistani residents are not scored. The full method is on our methodology page.

Exchanges

  1. Binance

    Best for The exchange PVARA has named

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Holds a PVARA No Objection Certificate
    • Pakistan is not on its prohibited list

    Cons

    • An NOC is not a licence
    • No Pakistani company found
    Read our Binance report

  2. Bitfinex

    Best for Spot access under global terms

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Bitfinex report

  3. Bitget

    Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its prohibited-countries list

    Cons

    • Its list covers other locations it designates later
    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Bitget report

  4. Bybit

    Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its excluded-jurisdictions list

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Bybit report

  5. HTX

    Best for A second NOC holder

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Holds a PVARA No Objection Certificate
    • Not on the restricted lists in its user agreement

    Cons

    • An NOC is not a licence
    • No Pakistani company found
    Read our HTX report

  6. KuCoin

    Best for A global exchange with broad listings

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not a restricted location in its terms

    Cons

    • Its list may change at its discretion
    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our KuCoin report

  7. MEXC

    Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its prohibited list

    Cons

    • Its list is non-exclusive
    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our MEXC report

  8. OKX

    Best for Spot and derivatives under global terms

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its restricted-locations list

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our OKX report

  9. Bitstamp

    Best for Plain spot trading

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • No Bitstamp document excludes Pakistan

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Bitstamp report

  10. Coinbase

    Best for Spot trading with a US-listed brand

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is a listed sign-up country in its identity verification guide

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Coinbase report

  11. Crypto.com

    Best for Spot trading in the app

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its App geo-restriction list

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Crypto.com report

  12. Kraken

    Best for Spot trading under global terms

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Not on its do-not-serve list or its derivatives exclusions

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Kraken report

Prediction markets

  1. Kalshi

    Best for US-regulated event contracts

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its restricted-jurisdictions list

    Cons

    • No Pakistani regulator position found
    Read our Kalshi report

  2. Polymarket

    Best for Global event markets from a wallet

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its blocked-countries list

    Cons

    • No Pakistani regulator position found
    Read our Polymarket report

DeFi

  1. Aster

    Best for Perpetuals and spot trading

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list

    Cons

    • Prediction trading is barred under its prediction rules
    Read our Aster report

  2. Hyperliquid

    Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Not excluded by its terms

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Hyperliquid report

  3. Lighter

    Best for Perpetuals on its trading app

    8.0/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    1/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not named in its terms

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Lighter report

  4. Jupiter

    Best for Solana swaps

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Pakistan is not named in its terms

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Jupiter report

  5. PancakeSwap

    Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Its terms bar only people and places under US sanctions

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our PancakeSwap report

  6. Uniswap

    Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet

    7.5/10
    Access
    4/4
    Products
    3/3
    Licences
    0/2
    Our test
    0.5/1

    Pros

    • Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions

    Cons

    • No Pakistani licence on file
    Read our Uniswap report

Which platforms block Pakistani users?

Gemini and Gate refuse Pakistani residents. Gemini does not list Pakistan among its supported countries, and Gate names Pakistan among its restricted locations.

Gemini’s areas of availability and its derivatives eligibility list leave Pakistan out, so Pakistani residents cannot open an account. Clause 2.5 of Gate’s user agreement (22 July 2026) names Pakistan among its restricted locations; the list says it is not exhaustive. Our test could not confirm Gate’s check: its sign-up page read our test address as Dubai, so the test did not reach a Pakistan-specific refusal.

We found no report that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has blocked a tracked exchange. Every other platform we track is open to Pakistan by its own documents. The next section covers what our test saw.

Platforms that refuse Pakistani residentsPick one to see what the record says
PlatformStatusTypeWhat the record saysPakistani option
GeminiRestrictedExchangePakistan is not on either of Gemini’s lists of supported countries–
GateRestrictedExchangePakistan is a restricted location in Gate’s user agreement of 22 July 2026–

Source: platform documents and our geo-access test, verified 19 October 2026.

What our geo-access test saw from Pakistan

From a Pakistani address on 14 and 16 October 2026 we loaded 11 of the 12 platforms we tested with no barrier, and Gate showed a notice. We did not test the other ten tracked platforms.

The test uses virtual locations, an address registered to the country but served from elsewhere, so it sees a platform’s own geo-blocking and cannot see a block by a Pakistani internet provider. An open page is not permission, and most platforms enforce at identity verification, so a loading home page does not mean an account will pass checks. Gate’s notice named Dubai, not Pakistan. Swipe through the screenshots below; each card says what the page showed.

What each platform showed us from hereScreenshots from our geo-access test, 14 Oct 2026 and 16 Oct 2026. Scroll sideways or use the arrows.
Sign-up page of Gate loaded from Pakistan: Pakistan, on Gate's list: sign-up loads with a notice that our address looks like Dubai (a virtual-location artefact)

Notice shownGate · Sign-up page

Pakistan, on Gate's list: sign-up loads with a notice that our address looks like Dubai (a virtual-location artefact)

“It seems that you're accessing our website from the Dubai region.”

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of Binance loaded from Pakistan: Pakistan: the global site loads with no notice

No barrierBinance · Home page

Pakistan: the global site loads with no notice

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 202 · Binance located us in Pakistan · virtual location

Home page of HTX loaded from Pakistan: Pakistan: the home page loads with no notice

No barrierHTX · Home page

Pakistan: the home page loads with no notice

16 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Trading app of Hyperliquid loaded from Pakistan: Pakistan: the trading app loads with no notice

No barrierHyperliquid · Trading app

Pakistan: the trading app loads with no notice

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Home page of KuCoin loaded from Pakistan: Pakistan: the home page loads with no notice

No barrierKuCoin · Home page

Pakistan: the home page loads with no notice

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

Sign-up page of OKX loaded from Pakistan: Pakistan: the sign-up page loads with no barrier

No barrierOKX · Sign-up page

Pakistan: the sign-up page loads with no barrier

14 Oct 2026 · HTTP 200 · virtual location

CRYPTORESTRICTIONS

Who regulates crypto in Pakistan?

PVARA licenses and supervises virtual asset firms, the State Bank decides how banks deal with them, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP) sits on PVARA’s board and keeps securities outside the Act.

Timeline in three lanes. State Bank, April 2026: Circular 10 of 2026 (Bank ban replaced). PVARA, 12 December 2025: Binance and HTX NOCs (First step, not a licence). PVARA, 26 April 2026: Advisory 001/2026 (Pilots need approval). PVARA, 21 August 2026: Regulations in force (11 licence categories). The Act, 5 March 2026: Act in force (Transitional date). The Act, 5 September 2026: NOC deadline (Apply or stop). The State Bank lane also notes that in 2018 banks were barred from crypto.

  • PVARA. The statutory regulator under the Act. Its board has a chairperson appointed by the federal government, the secretaries of Finance and Law, the State Bank governor, the SECP chairperson, the chair of the National AML-CFT Authority, the chair of the Pakistan Digital Authority and two independent directors (section 7). Dawn named Bilal bin Saqib as chairman in December 2025. Its Virtual Asset Services Regulations came into force on 21 August 2026, with 11 licence categories. An advisory of 26 April 2026 says a pilot or partnership that enables virtual asset services needs PVARA’s prior authorisation, stablecoins for remittances included.
  • State Bank of Pakistan. Issued the 2018 ban on bank dealings and its replacement in April 2026 (see the first section). Its governor sits on PVARA’s board.
  • SECP. Section 2 of the Act keeps securities, derivatives and collective investment schemes under the State Bank and the SECP, outside the Act. The News reports that NOC holders work with the SECP to set up a local subsidiary.
  • Pakistan Crypto Council. The government formed it in March 2025, per local reports that The Block cites, with Bilal Bin Saqib as chief executive and Changpeng Zhao as strategic adviser. The Block describes it as a government body that oversees blockchain and crypto initiatives.

Which crypto products are limited in Pakistan?

Banking is the tight point: banks may serve licensed firms but may not hold or trade crypto themselves. We found no ban on a product such as derivatives or peer-to-peer trading.

Ledger of four rules. Banks holding crypto: barred, banks may not trade, invest in or hold crypto, April 2026. Bank accounts for NOC holders: limited, limited-purpose accounts; full service needs a licence, April 2026. Client money accounts: limited, rupee accounts only, no cash deposits or withdrawals, April 2026. Exchange licence capital: required, pkr 500 million paid up for exchanges and derivatives, 21 August 2026.

  • Banks. Per Dawn, banks may open accounts for PVARA-licensed firms after checking the licence, use separate rupee client money accounts with no cash deposits or withdrawals, and may not invest in, trade or hold virtual assets with their own or customers’ funds.
  • NOC holders. Dawn reports that firms with an NOC may get limited-purpose accounts to pursue their licence; fuller services need the licence itself.
  • Capital. The licensing page sets minimum paid-up capital from 15 million rupees (advisory) to 500 million (exchange, lending and borrowing, derivatives, mining). Derivatives are a licence category, not a ban.
  • Out of scope. Section 2 of the Act leaves out closed-loop tokens, securities, central bank digital currency and non-fungible tokens that are not used for payment or investment.
  • Peer-to-peer trading. We found no State Bank or PVARA rule on it.

The law is unsettled. The Prevention of Gambling Act 1977 defines gaming to include wagering or betting, and we found no ruling by PVARA, the Telecommunication Authority or a court on Polymarket or Kalshi, both of which are open to Pakistanis by their own lists.

Status of two platforms with prediction markets for Pakistan: Polymarket available and Kalshi available. Locally, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had blocked 184 betting sites and apps by August 2025, we found no PVARA statement on prediction markets and no local prediction products. The Prevention of Gambling Act 1977 defines gaming to include wagering or betting; gaming in a private place carries up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to 1,000 rupees under section 6. We found no ruling on Polymarket or Kalshi.

The Act extends to the whole of Pakistan. It defines “gaming” as including wagering or betting, and a common gaming-house as a place used for gaming for profit, or for gaming on figures, numbers, dates or the occurrence or non-occurrence of a natural event. Keeping one carries one month to one year in prison or a fine of 100 to 1,000 rupees; gaming in a private place carries up to two years or a fine of up to 1,000 rupees (section 6). It says nothing about online platforms or prediction markets, and we do not know how it would be applied to one.

On the online side, the Cabinet Division told the National Assembly in August 2025 that the Telecommunication Authority had blocked 184 betting and gambling websites and apps on complaints. We found no sign that Polymarket or Kalshi was among them, and no local prediction-market product. Polymarket and Kalshi list no Pakistani restriction. The Virtual Assets Act licenses derivatives but we found nothing in it on event contracts.

How is crypto taxed in Pakistan?

We found no crypto-specific tax rule. The Finance Bill 2026 text has no virtual-asset provision, though licensed firms must follow the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and the rules of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Column pair of Pakistani tax on securities gains for comparison: 15% for filers and about 30% for non-filers, from the KPMG brief of the Finance Act 2026. What the rules say about crypto: no crypto-specific tax rate found in the Finance Bill 2026 text; licensed virtual asset firms must comply with the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and FBR rules under section 66 of the Virtual Assets Act 2026; the sources we read do not extend the securities rate to crypto. The Finance Act 2026 took effect on 1 July 2026, and a text search of the Bill found no virtual-asset provision.

Section 66 of the Act requires every licensed firm to comply with the obligations under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and any FBR rules. That binds the firm, and the section sets no rate for a user’s gains. We text-searched the Finance Bill 2026 as presented in June 2026 for “virtual asset”, “crypto”, “digital asset” and “PVARA” and found none. The enacted Finance Act on the FBR site is an image scan we could not search, so the Bill and KPMG’s July 2026 brief, which lists no virtual-asset item, are our evidence. We also found no FBR guidance page on crypto.

The nearest rule is the tax on gains from securities. KPMG’s brief says that for securities acquired on or after 1 July 2024 it is 15% for people on the Active Taxpayers’ List (filers), while non-filers pay the ordinary slab rates with a 15% floor, and the Act’s removal of an exclusion doubles the rate collected from them. Pakistan’s tax year ends on 30 June, and the Act took effect on 1 July 2026. We found no source that says crypto counts as a security for this rule, so treat it as a comparison, not a rate that applies.