Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman and Minister of State Bilal Bin Saqib has called for regulatory institutions to adopt technology-driven approaches as artificial intelligence, tokenisation and digital assets reshape financial institutions and capital markets. Speaking at the inaugural Silk Road Finance and Technology Forum in Tashkent, Saqib said regulators must be capable of keeping pace with technologies that are developing faster than traditional policy cycles.
Saqib said artificial intelligence will transform not only financial products but also the institutions responsible for supervising them. As financial markets become increasingly digital, automated and faster-moving, regulators will need to use technology for supervision, compliance, risk detection and institutional decision-making while maintaining consumer protection and financial stability. He argued that the next generation of regulators must themselves become technology-enabled to effectively oversee emerging financial systems.
The PVARA chairman also highlighted tokenisation as a major development in how financial assets could be issued, distributed, settled and owned. He said PVARA and the State Bank of Pakistan are studying a digitally native sovereign note that could operate on regulated blockchain infrastructure, settle on the same day and remain interoperable with Pakistan’s existing financial system. Such an approach could potentially lower investment ticket sizes, reduce settlement times and improve transparency, while the wider opportunity could extend to tokenised real-world assets, payments, settlement and private capital.
Saqib further pointed to Pakistan’s transition from restrictions on virtual assets toward a dedicated regulatory framework under the Virtual Assets Act 2026. PVARA has notified licensing regulations and opened a licensing portal for virtual asset service providers, while State Bank Circular 10 allows regulated banks to provide accounts to licensed providers, including segregated client-money accounts.
He also stressed the need for Pakistan’s young population to move beyond consuming emerging technologies and focus on building companies and financial infrastructure around AI and blockchain. PVARA’s regulatory sandbox is intended to provide a supervised environment for testing solutions involving tokenisation, payments, digital asset custody and compliance technology, supporting the development of new businesses within a regulated framework.
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