Pakistan Regulator Seeks Shariah-Compliant Digital Finance Leadership

Pakistan's crypto regulator is pushing for a nuanced religious stance on digital currencies after an influential seminary's ruling threatened to stall the country's ambitious digital asset plans.

The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has asked the country's most influential Islamic seminary, Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi, to clarify the difference between speculative cryptocurrencies and asset-backed digital tokens. The request comes after a recent ruling by the seminary declared that cryptocurrency-based purchases are not permissible under Islamic law.

Bilal bin Saqib, chairman of PVARA, reportedly sought guidance from Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi after the seminary's fatwa last month. He argued that blockchain is 'a record-keeping and verification technology, not a financial asset,' and that digital assets can be categorized based on their underlying value.

The internal debate within the seminary has added pressure on regulators seeking religious consensus as they build a national digital-asset framework. The fatwa was issued by several scholars, including Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, a leading authority in Islamic finance.