Binance CEO meets Pakistan leaders to advance crypto rules

Pakistan has signaled a clear commitment to developing a regulated digital asset ecosystem after top government and military leadership met with a high-level delegation from cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The delegation was led by Binance Global CEO Richard Teng, who held detailed discussions with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in Islamabad. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that senior officials reviewed Pakistan’s progress toward formalizing digital asset policies.

Bilal bin Saqib, Chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), also attended the meeting and briefed the leadership on Pakistan’s digital asset roadmap and the regulatory authority’s responsibilities.

The engagement followed a major consultative meeting at the Finance Division a day earlier. That session was co-chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and PVARA Chairman Bilal bin Saqib, with participation from the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, executives from leading banks, and senior Binance officials.

Discussions focused on Pakistan’s next steps in building a secure and innovation-driven digital asset environment. Officials reviewed the country’s progress on developing on-and-off-ramp systems, improving compliance standards, increasing market transparency, and integrating registered financial institutions with virtual asset platforms.

Finance Minister Aurangzeb noted that Pakistan’s rising digital asset adoption reflects a global trend. He emphasized that bringing citizen-held digital assets into formal reporting systems would enhance financial visibility, improve credit assessments, and strengthen national asset monitoring, while making clear that digital assets will not receive legal tender status.

The meeting also examined plans for a structured licensing regime for Virtual Asset Service Providers aimed at improving transparency, aligning with global AML and CFT standards, attracting institutional participation, and safeguarding users from unregulated offshore platforms.

The discussions came shortly after reports confirmed that Bilal bin Saqib resigned from his position as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. Despite leaving his government role, he is continuing as Chairman of PVARA, the autonomous body tasked with overseeing Pakistan’s virtual asset sector.