Is Quotex Legal In Pakistan? (2025)

Paul Titus
Barry Edwards
Last Updated on November 6, 2025
Is Quotex Legal In Pakistan
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Quotex is a widely used binary options platform for beginner traders in Pakistan because of its simple interface, quick profits, and support for local deposit methods. But with growing financial restrictions, you might be asking whether Quotex is legal in Pakistan.

The short answer is:

👉 No, Quotex is not legal in Pakistan because it is not licensed by the SECP, its fixed-time trading product is considered illegal gambling in Pakistan, and depositing money to the broker violates the SBP's foreign exchange laws (FERA).

As a result, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) officially banned Quotex and 45 other platforms and the SECP requested the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block access to its website, so users can no longer log in or withdraw funds through it. 

In this article, we’ll break down why Quotex is not allowed to operate in Pakistan, why binary options trading itself is not authorized under Pakistani law, and why you, as a trader, are breaking the law by depositing money to Quotex.

Online Trading Laws in Pakistan

Before we explain why Quotex is illegal in Pakistan, it’s important to understand the laws on how online trading is regulated in the country.

The legal status of any online trading platform in Pakistan depends on two main entities:

  • SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan): licenses and regulates financial services.
  • SBP (State Bank of Pakistan): controls all foreign exchange and remittance activities.

Here are relevant laws that apply to binary options trading:

  • Only SECP-licensed brokers can operate legally in Pakistan, and they have to follow SBP’s foreign exchange rules and legal frameworks (e.g., Securities Act, 2015).
  • You can only trade in securities that are officially listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), including sharia-compliant stocks, Sukuk bonds, mutual funds, and government securities.
  • Under FERA 1947, Sections 4 and 5, Pakistani residents are not allowed to send money abroad for unauthorized or speculative purposes.
  • Banks in Pakistan must verify the purpose of international payments and block invalid reasons, like funding offshore brokers.
  • Under the Prevention of Gambling Act and Penal Code of Pakistan, gambling is strictly prohibited, and Pakistani residents can get arrested or penalized.

Why is Quotex Illegal in Pakistan?

Here are three reasons why Quotex is illegal and how the broker fits into the current regulatory framework of online trading in Pakistan:

1. Quotex’s fixed-time trading is considered illegal gambling

Quotex is an unregulated binary options broker and while no Pakistani law does explicitly mention “binary options,” or “fixed-time trading (FTT)”, the SECP and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) have officially warned that binary options trading is not a regulated financial product in Pakistan, it is more similar to gambling, an activity that violates Pakistan's Prevention of Gambling Act. This is because of two key factors:

  1. Fixed time trading is highly speculative, so the ultra-short duration trades you can make on Quotex (like 5-60 seconds) make the outcome based on random chance, not skillful technical or fundamental analysis.
  2. Quotex and all other binary option brokers offer an unfair payout structure where you risk 100% of your investment to win a lesser amount, typically 20-93% of your bet. So for most assets, you need to win more than 55-60% of your trades just to break even, which is a very hard task even for experienced traders.
Quotex's unfair payout structure is gharar

2. Quotex is Not Licensed by SECP

Under Pakistani law, only brokers licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) can legally offer trading services. Quotex does not have an SECP licence, which makes it an unauthorized trading platform in Pakistan. As of April 9, 2025, Quotex has been officially backlisted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for violating the Securities Act, 2015 by actively promoting binary options without a license. See the official SECP warning below:

Quotex Pakistan SECP warning

In August 2025, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) officially banned Quotex among 46 illegal gambling and trading applications like IQ Option, Pocket Option, Deriv, Olymp Trade, OctaFX, and Binomo. The NCCIA identified “scams, data theft, and addictive behaviours” as core reasons for the nationwide ban and referred Quotex to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to block its access in the country.

Many Pakistani traders try to access Quotex through VPNs or a different DNS server, but you have to understand that the lack of the SECP licence also means that your funds are not protected by Pakistani law, and if you face blocked account, rejected withdrawals, financial loss, or any other dispute with your broker, you cannot get compensated or file a complaint to SECP or SBP.

3. Sending money to Quotex is a violation of FERA

Finally, and most importantly for you as a trader, the act of sending money to unregulated international brokers like Quotex is a direct violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) prohibits sending money abroad for speculative purposes, so you are legally allowed to try the Quotex demo, but when you deposit real money to your Quotex account, you are breaching Sections 4 and 5 of FERA, as you can read below:

“4. Restrictions on dealing in Foreign Exchange.

Except with the previous general or special permission of the State Bank, no person other than an authorised dealer shall in Pakistan, and no person resident in Pakistan other than an authorised dealer shall outside Pakistan, buy or borrow from, or sell or lend to, or exchange with, any person not being an authorised dealer, any foreign exchange”

SBP circulars, such as EPD Circular Letter No. 08 of 2022, explicitly instruct banks to monitor and report payments made to unauthorized or speculative online trading platforms, so if you send money to Quotex, you risk having your bank account flagged or frozen, in addition to facing potential legal penalties.

Quotex unregulated international broker

In practice, enforcement is selective but real: many Quotex traders from Pakistan report blocked debit cards, reversed transactions, or frozen bank accounts after attempting to fund their Quotex accounts from their local bank account.

Does Depositing Crypto to Quotex Bypass FERA Restrictions?

No, using cryptocurrency to fund your Quotex account does not make the transaction legal because Pakistan's foreign exchange laws (FERA) prohibit the transfer of value abroad for unauthorized speculative trading, regardless of the currency used.

Furthermore, crypto exchanges in Pakistan are required to monitor and report suspicious activity under anti-money laundering laws, so transactions to offshore brokers can be tracked and flagged by authorities the same way as with Pakistani banks.

What are the Legal Quotex Alternatives in Pakistan?

If you are looking for a legal Quotex alternative, only SECP-licensed brokers are your fully legal options under Pakistani law. However, these SECP-regulated brokers are complex, require large minimum deposits and they don't offer binary options, high-leverage forex or CFDs on global stocks and crypto. Your trading is also restricted almost entirely to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) which is probably not what you are looking for.

If you are interested in Quotex because of its simple, intuitive trading platform and the potential for high profitability in a short time, SECP-registered brokers won't meet your expectations because they are designed for conservative traders who prioritize long-term investing in the Pakistani stock market.

Conclusion

Quotex is illegal in Pakistan because it does not have an SECP license, its fixed-time trading product is considered a form of prohibited gambling in Pakistan, and funding your Quotex account is an unauthorized cross-border payment, which is a violation of the State Bank of foreign exchange laws.

Pakistani traders must understand that the above discussed SECP and FERA restrictions are not just about Quotex, no offshore broker is currently authorized to operate in the country. Binary options trading is illegal in Pakistan and if you decide to deposit money to your Quotex account, your funds are not protected by the SECP and you are directly violating FERA.

If you want to trade online legally, the only fully compliant path is to use an SECP-registered broker, even if it is not beginner-friendly and doesn’t offer the features that got you interested in Quotex in the first place.


» If you are looking for a safe and reliable trading platform, we suggest you check out our list of recommended brokers.

Online trading regulation differs by region, so explore our country-specific legality guides below to see how Quotex is regulated in your country:

table of contents
1)
Online Trading Laws in Pakistan
2)
Why is Quotex Illegal in Pakistan?
3)
What are the Legal Quotex Alternatives in Pakistan?
4)
Conclusion