Pakistan Launches Crypto Investigation Unit to Fight Money Laundering

In brief Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency has set up a dedicated cryptocurrency investigation unit to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing carried out through digital assets. The unit sits inside the FIA's new National Command and Control Centre and will probe the criminal use of crypto, while the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority handles regulation. It marks the enforcement side of a rapid national crypto push that has included lifting a banking ban, planning exchange licences and courting Trump-linked crypto ventures. Pakistan's top federal investigators have set up a dedicated unit to police crypto-linked crime, building out the enforcement side of a national drive to embrace digital assets.The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has established a cryptocurrency investigation unit in its newly operational National Command and Control Centre (NC3), targeting money laundering and terrorism financing conducted through virtual currencies, the agency's counter-terrorism chief said.FIA Counter-Terrorism Wing Director Dr Muhammad Athar Waheed told local media outlet Dawn the unit would investigate the criminal use of crypto, while the recently created Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) remains the body responsible for regulating digital assets. He urged two other agencies—the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force—to build similar units to counter crypto's use in cybercrime and the drug trade, and said new rules were being drafted to wrap up inquiries within fixed timeframes.The NC3 centre brings the FIA's financial-crime tools onto one platform, including anti-money laundering and virtual-currency investigation desks, an Interpol coordination point, and units for open-source intelligence, cyber patrolling and dark web investigation.Pakistan and cryptoPakistan, which ranked third in the Chainalysis 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, has moved aggressively to formalize the sector. Islamabad has lifted an eight-year crypto banking ban, created PVARA, begun advancing licences for crypto exchanges and explored tokenizing state assets.It has also woven crypto into its diplomacy with Washington, striking a deal with an affiliate of World Liberty Financial—the Trump family's crypto venture—to explore using its USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments.That embrace hit a snag in June, when the influential Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi seminary ruled that cryptocurrency is not "wealth" under Islamic law and therefore not a valid means of payment—a fatwa that cast doubt on the government's plans. PVARA chairman Bilal bin Saqib has since asked the seminary to distinguish between purely speculative tokens and asset-backed instruments such as fully reserved stablecoins and blockchain-recorded sukuk, telling Reuters that Pakistan could "lead the world in Shariah-compliant digital finance."For now, the FIA unit gives Islamabad an enforcement arm to match its regulatory ambitions—even as the question of whether crypto is permissible at all, in the eyes of the country's religious scholars, remains unresolved.Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.