Pakistan crypto regulator meets scholar after Islamic fatwa

Pakistan's top financial regulator for digital assets has called for continued dialogue on the status of cryptocurrencies under Islamic law following a meeting with a prominent religious scholar who recently endorsed a ruling against their use. Bilal bin Saqib, chairman of the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), met with Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani on July 11 to discuss the issue.

The meeting came after a religious ruling, or fatwa, was issued on June 10 by the Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi seminary. The ruling, signed by Usmani and five other scholars, declared that purchasing goods or services with digital assets, including stablecoins like USDT, is impermissible under Shariah law. The fatwa argued that cryptocurrencies do not qualify as legitimate wealth or property, known as maal, in Islamic jurisprudence, describing them as "merely the recording of fictitious numbers in an account."

In a public statement following the discussion, Saqib described the conversation as constructive and emphasized a shared goal of protecting Pakistanis from financial harm. He argued that digital assets represent a broad spectrum of technologies, including blockchain, stablecoins,...