‘Can widen capital pool!’ — Hong Kong, Pakistan explore tokenized markets and rules
Crypto firms in Pakistan have until 5th September to get operating licenses or ship out.
Pakistan is looking up to Hong Kong’s experience in tokenized bond markets to help design and improve its next-generation financial regime.
On Thursday, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority’s Chairman, Bilal Bin Saqib, met Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services, Christopher Hui, for benchmarking on the same.
In a statement, the PVARA said,
Pakistan and Hong Kong are exploring deeper cooperation at the intersection of financial services, digital assets and tokenised capital markets.
The watchdog added that the discussion was around “digital bond issuance,” regulatory innovation, and how tokenization could support efficient capital formation and operations of financial markets.
Separately, Saqib met Dr. Kelvin Wong, Chairman of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Part of the issues covered included licensing, supervision, anti-money laundering (AML), tokenization, and stablecoins.
For Saqib, the top agenda was tokenized capital markets and how to leverage them.
For emerging markets, tokenisation is not simply a technology story. It is a capital formation story. If we can make Pakistani assets easier for global investors to access, settle and hold, we can widen the pool of capital available to the country.
Can Pakistan replicate Hong Kong’s tokenized markets?
Hong Kong has issued some tokenized bonds already. In 2023, the government issued $102M in tokenized green bonds.
It followed the tranche with a higher $766M multi-currency green bond in 2024. As of late last year, another record was made. It issued its third-largest green bond worth $1.28B.
To further scale its tokenized markets and digital bond issuance, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) tapped experts including JPMorgan and HSBC in June 2026.
So, it clearly makes sense for Pakistan to seek insights from an experienced regulator and operator in tokenized markets. And, the trend is not surprising.
This is important as the APAC region recorded the strongest crypto adoption in 2025, according to Chainalysis. Hong Kong and Pakistan are among the top-10 countries to have seen strong adoption rates over the year.
Like most emerging markets, Pakistan has quickly formulated a crypto regulatory framework amid pressure from the anti-money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The PVARA was formed last year to license, monitor, and govern the Pakistan crypto industry. In August, PVARA opened its licensing framework and set 5th September as the deadline for existing crypto players to get an operating green light or exit the market.
However, as underlined by recent developments, the country’s vision goes beyond just licensing crypto trading. In fact, its major goal is set on tokenized capital markets.
Final Summary
- Pakistan has turned to Hong Kong to learn more about tokenized capital markets, especially digital bonds.
- Pakistan set a 5th September deadline for existing crypto firms to get an operating license.
