Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency established a specialized cryptocurrency investigation unit under its National Command and Control Centre, according to Dawn News. Muhammad Athar Waheed, director of the FIA's counter-terrorism wing, confirmed the unit will investigate digital asset use in money laundering and terrorism financing. The new unit operates alongside the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, the country's federal regulator responsible for licensing exchanges. Waheed suggested that the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and Anti-Narcotics Force create similar teams to address crypto use in cybercrimes and drug trafficking.

This is enforcement infrastructure, not a regulatory change. Pakistan's Virtual Assets Act already passed in March, establishing PVARA as a permanent federal regulator with authority to license exchanges. PVARA has since approved licenses for major platforms including Binance and HTX. The investigation unit does not alter that framework — it adds a law enforcement layer focused on illicit activity within an already-regulated environment. This matters because it signals Pakistan is building operational capacity to enforce existing rules rather than introducing new restrictions. Countries that invest in enforcement capability tend to preserve legal pathways for compliant actors, since prosecution requires distinguishing legal from illegal activity.

For traders, this changes nothing near-term. Pakistan is not a tier-one liquidity market, and the country's regulatory stance has been accommodative since March. PVARA Chairman Bilal bin Saqib has stated plans for a sovereign stablecoin, and the government previously announced a state-held bitcoin reserve and allocated 2,000 megawatts of electricity for bitcoin mining and AI data centers. The investigation unit is consistent with that trajectory — Pakistan is building both regulatory infrastructure and enforcement capacity simultaneously, which suggests it intends to remain a participant in the digital asset space rather than exit it. This is not a crackdown in the restrictive sense; it is the professionalization of oversight in a market that has already been brought under formal regulation.

Watch for PVARA's stablecoin announcement and the first enforcement action from the new FIA unit. The stablecoin timeline will indicate how quickly Pakistan plans to move from regulatory setup to active market participation. The first enforcement case will show whether the unit targets unlicensed operators or how it prioritizes cases, and whether it focuses on high-profile cases to establish deterrence or broader sweeps.

Source: The Block