Nayapaisa Seeks PVARA NOC for Licensed Crypto Exchange in Pakistan

A proposed Pakistani crypto exchange called Nayapaisa has taken its first formal step towards a licence. On November 9, 2026, Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) and Norwegian venture builder Aprikos Venture said they had signed a joint venture agreement and applied to the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) for a No Objection Certificate (NOC). The partners want to give Pakistanis a regulated way to buy and sell digital assets using rupees.

What happened?

NBX, an Oslo-based crypto exchange listed in Norway, published the update as a regulatory press release on November 9. It said the two companies had signed the joint venture agreement for Nayapaisa (Private) Limited, which is still a proposed company, and filed the NOC application with PVARA.

The filing follows a letter of intent the two firms announced on March 11, 2026. At that stage they only agreed to explore a regulated exchange in Pakistan and said any venture would depend on final agreements and approvals from Pakistani regulators.

The NOC is the first stage of PVARA’s licensing process for virtual asset service providers. Nayapaisa said it will not take on customers in Pakistan until the regulator has granted both the NOC and the full licence that follows it.

Who is behind Nayapaisa?

The venture is a 50/50 partnership. NBX and Aprikos Venture will each hold half of Nayapaisa through Horizon Markets AS, a Norwegian holding company that is still being incorporated.

• NBX was founded in 2018 by Bjørn Kjos, the founder of Norwegian Air and Bank Norwegian. It runs a regulated exchange and custody service for the Nordic market, holds an electronic money institution licence and is registered with Norway’s Financial Supervisory Authority. It will supply the exchange technology it built and runs in Norway, plus its governance framework.
• Aprikos Venture is an Oslo-based venture builder focused on fintech and health tech. It will set up the local company structure, lead talks with PVARA and run operations in Pakistan.

Jamil Rehman, chairman of Aprikos Venture, is the proposed chief executive of Nayapaisa. NBX chief executive Stig Kjos-Mathisen is the proposed chairman. The release said a compliance officer has been named and an internal auditor proposed.

“Pakistanis already use digital assets at scale, mostly outside any platform licensed in Pakistan,” Rehman said in the November announcement.

What will Nayapaisa offer?

According to the release, Nayapaisa plans to run a digital asset exchange for customers in Pakistan, with deposits and withdrawals in Pakistani rupees handled through licensed local banks.

TechX Pakistan, citing NBX investor materials, reported that the model involves rupees coming onto the platform, being held as stablecoins and being cashed out through remittance channels, with the Pakistani diaspora and the remittance market as key targets. The companies have not disclosed how much capital they are putting into the venture or when they expect to launch.

Why it matters

Pakistan has a large but mostly unregulated crypto user base. The release points to Chainalysis’s 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, which ranked Pakistan third of 151 countries, behind India and the United States. Until PVARA was created, the country had no licensing regime for digital asset exchanges.

That is changing quickly. TechX Pakistan reports that the Virtual Assets Act 2026 made PVARA a permanent federal regulator, and that a State Bank of Pakistan circular dated April 14, 2026, allows regulated banks to serve virtual asset providers licensed by PVARA. The same report says global exchanges Binance and HTX have already received NOCs and are registered, but are not yet authorised to operate.

Bank access matters because the biggest hurdle for crypto platforms in Pakistan has been moving rupees in and out legally. A licensed exchange that connects to local banks could offer an alternative to the informal peer-to-peer trading many users rely on today. It also fits the wider push to formalise money flows in Pakistan, such as the government’s plan to move to fully digital payments through Raast.

Back in March, Kjos-Mathisen described the country as “a significant opportunity for regulated digital assets.”

What happens next?

PVARA will now review the application. TechX Pakistan reports that the regulator has 60 days to decide on a complete application, either granting the NOC with conditions or refusing it with written reasons.

If the NOC is granted, the partners plan to:

1. Incorporate Nayapaisa in Pakistan and register with the Financial Monitoring Unit.
2. Appoint a chief financial officer, a money laundering reporting officer and an information security officer.
3. Apply for a full virtual asset service provider licence within the NOC’s validity period.

Only after that licence is approved can Nayapaisa open to Pakistani customers. For founders and investors following Pakistan’s fintech scene, it will be an early test of how quickly PVARA turns applications into working, bank-connected exchanges. PFM Today has also covered other Pakistani fintech moves this month, including Abhi Microfinance Bank’s oversubscribed IPO book building.