The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is yet to receive policy direction from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) to develop specialized courses in cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital asset management, leaving a proposed collaboration with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) pending.
The development was disclosed in the National Assembly in response to a question raised by Dr. Sharmila Faruqui regarding Pakistan’s emerging framework for regulating cryptocurrency and other digital assets.
The Ministry of IT informed the National Assembly that the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has been established as a separate statutory authority under the Virtual Assets Act, 2026. PVARA is responsible for regulating businesses and service providers dealing with virtual assets, promoting responsible innovation, protecting consumers and ensuring compliance with financial, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements.
The new law also provides a regulatory sandbox where eligible cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital asset businesses can test new products and services under PVARA’s supervision.
PVARA has already published guidelines for the sandbox and started a sandbox focused on asset reference tokenization. The government said applications are currently being received and evaluated.
The government further informed the National Assembly that PVARA has developed the Pakistan Virtual Assets Services Regulations to regulate and supervise virtual asset service providers. The draft regulations and the Virtual Asset Activity Specific Handbook were published for public consultation on June 11, 2026, while final approval and implementation arrangements are underway.
Despite these regulatory developments, Pakistan does not yet have a dedicated national education program for cryptocurrency and blockchain-related skills. HEC said no collaborative program with NAVTTC for digital asset management has been initiated because it has not received policy direction from MoITT to develop such a program.
HEC has clarified, however, that universities can introduce programs, specializations and interdisciplinary courses covering emerging technologies through existing curriculum and approval mechanisms. This could allow universities to offer courses related to blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, digital finance and other emerging areas.
The development comes as Pakistan moves to establish formal rules for the cryptocurrency and digital asset sector. While the government has made progress on regulation through PVARA and the Virtual Assets Act, specialized education and workforce training in cryptocurrency and blockchain remain pending further policy direction from the IT Ministry.
