PANews reported on May 21 that the Pakistani Ministry of Finance has officially announced the establishment of the Digital Assets Management Bureau (PDAA), which will comprehensively regulate the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. This agency will be responsible for licensing and compliance management of market entities such as exchanges, custodians, stablecoins, and DeFi applications, aiming to build a regulatory framework that meets FATF standards.
The Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Pakistan Crypto Committee (PCC) Muhammad Aurangzeb stated that the PDAA will promote compliance in the $25 billion informal crypto market and explore innovative applications such as national asset tokenization and digitalization of government debt. The new regulations will not only pertain to crypto assets but will also open new financial export channels through tokenization and Web3 innovations. This move makes Pakistan the latest emerging market to establish a dedicated regulatory body for digital assets, following the UAE and Singapore.