Back
Pakistan FIA sets up crypto crime unit amid digital asset push

Pakistan FIA sets up crypto crime unit amid digital asset push

The FIA's specialist team will investigate money laundering, terrorism financing and other alleged crypto-linked crimes as Pakistan separates criminal enforcement from market regulation under its expanding digital asset framework.

BTC
USD1

Fact Check
The Dawn report, Pakistan's leading English-language newspaper, confirms every element of the claim: the FIA established a cryptocurrency/virtual asset investigation unit (within its NC3), its purpose is investigating money laundering and terrorism financing through virtual currencies, and PVARA oversees regulation while the FIA handles investigation. This is independently corroborated by PANews and Phemex crypto news outlets. The claim's framing accurately reflects the sourced facts.
    Reference: 123
Summary

Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency has created a dedicated cryptocurrency investigation unit within its National Command and Control Centre to handle suspected use of digital assets in money laundering, terrorism financing and other crimes. The move clarifies the division of labor in Pakistan's emerging crypto framework, with the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority continuing to supervise licensed digital asset businesses while the FIA focuses on criminal investigations. Muhammad Athar Waheed, director of the FIA's Counter-Terrorism Wing, also called for the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force to build similar specialist teams for crypto-linked cases. The unit forms part of a broader upgrade of the FIA's NC3, which brings together anti-money laundering work, border monitoring, intelligence coordination, cyber patrols, dark web investigations and Interpol cooperation. The step comes after Pakistan set up PVARA under the Virtual Assets Act 2026, allowed regulated banks to provide accounts to PVARA-licensed firms in April, and explored uses including the USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments, a state-held Bitcoin reserve, and surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence data centres.

Terms & Concepts
  • money laundering: The process of disguising illicit funds so they appear to come from legitimate sources.
  • terrorism financing: Providing or moving funds intended to support terrorist acts or organizations.
  • dark web: Parts of the internet that are not indexed by standard search engines and are often monitored in criminal investigations.