Pakistan's Crypto Regulator Pushes to Distinguish Speculative Tokens From Asset-Backed Tokens

According to Odaily, Pakistan's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) chair Bilal bin Saqib has called on Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi to clarify the distinction between speculative cryptocurrencies and asset-backed digital tokens, following the religious institution's ruling that crypto-based purchases violate Islamic law.

PVARA is evaluating digital assets by category rather than treating them as a single class, Saqib stated. He noted that blockchain-based Islamic bonds represent ownership of real-yield assets, while gold-backed tokens and fully-reserved stablecoins correspond to redeemable value. Speculative tokens without underlying assets remain a separate category, and the regulator will continue collaborating with scholars as it develops licensing frameworks and advances stablecoin and real-world asset tokenization efforts.