The news has been coming up since when the State Bank of Pakistan issued a circular on its website prohibiting the issuance, purchase, sale, investment, or exchange of any virtual currencies or initial coin offerings (ICO) in Pakistan.
In view of the foregoing, all Banks/ DFIs/ Microfinance Banks and Payment System Operators (PSOs)/Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are advised to refrain from processing, using, trading, holding, transferring value, promoting and investing in Virtual Currencies/Tokens. Further, banks/DFIs/Microfinance Banks and PSOs/PSPs will not facilitate their customers/account holders to transact in VCs/ICO Tokens.SBP has clearly noted that no entity has been authorized for dealing in any form of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, Pakcoin, Litecoin, and more. Furthermore, all banks have been specifically advised to avoid investing in these currencies, with the bank.
Furthermore, if any individual is found in involving into the transaction of any cryptocurrency, it will be reported as suspicious and legal action being taken by the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU).
It's clear that the ban has been done due to the highly volatile prices of such currencies. The security of cryptocurrency exchanges has been compromised a number of times; cybercriminals took advantage of the crypto mining craze last year.