Muslims, as they are called followers of Islam, who are estimated to be the second most popular belief in the world, with more than 1.6 billion believers, may have been responsible for the totally unexpected price increase of Bitcoin, which jumped more of 10% on this last Thursday, April 12.
According to a report by the international news agency CCN, a recent statement by an Islamic scholar that Bitcoin is compatible with Sharia law, which regulates life in society according to the Koran, the holy book of Islam, opened the market for Muslim investors who previously only speculated on the criptomoedas in front of their faith that prohibits the practice of lending money at high interest rates, known as usury.
Author Mufti Muhammad Abu Bakar, a Sharia advisor and responsible for the compliance area at Blossom Finance in Jakarta, has published an article on the status of Bitcoin, stating whether it is Halal or Haram. The article was published on Tuesday, April 10 (price increase happened on April 12). A day before the article was published, a major Islamic academic conference on crypto-coins was held demonstrating that the issue is latent among Muslims.
The study essentially decided that, in certain cases, Bitcoin may indeed be Halal, allowed:
"IN GERMANY, BITCOIN IS RECOGNIZED AS A LEGAL CURRENCY AND, THEREFORE, IS QUALIFIED AS ISLAMIC MONEY IN GERMANY. IN COUNTRIES LIKE THE USA, BITCOIN DOES NOT HAVE OFFICIAL LEGAL MONETARY STATUS, BUT IT IS ACCEPTED FOR PAYMENT IN A VARIETY OF TRADES AND, THEREFORE, IS QUALIFIED AS ISLAMIC TRADITIONAL MONEY. "
In Islam, commodities with an intrinsic value (gold, silver, salt) are considered coins. Both form of digital money and even fiduciary coins are only allowed if they are supported by a commodity of intrinsic value and with a fixed exchange rate. The gold standard allows gold-backed coins to be compatible with Sharia, for example. In this way, according to Bakar, as the blockchain undeniably proves the ownership of a digital asset, it ends up being more Sharia-compatible than the current banking system. Islamic principles are even being used for the development of a startup focused on the Arab world, HADA dBank.
According to a report by the international news agency CCN, a recent statement by an Islamic scholar that Bitcoin is compatible with Sharia law, which regulates life in society according to the Koran, the holy book of Islam, opened the market for Muslim investors who previously only speculated on the criptomoedas in front of their faith that prohibits the practice of lending money at high interest rates, known as usury.
Author Mufti Muhammad Abu Bakar, a Sharia advisor and responsible for the compliance area at Blossom Finance in Jakarta, has published an article on the status of Bitcoin, stating whether it is Halal or Haram. The article was published on Tuesday, April 10 (price increase happened on April 12). A day before the article was published, a major Islamic academic conference on crypto-coins was held demonstrating that the issue is latent among Muslims.
The study essentially decided that, in certain cases, Bitcoin may indeed be Halal, allowed:
"IN GERMANY, BITCOIN IS RECOGNIZED AS A LEGAL CURRENCY AND, THEREFORE, IS QUALIFIED AS ISLAMIC MONEY IN GERMANY. IN COUNTRIES LIKE THE USA, BITCOIN DOES NOT HAVE OFFICIAL LEGAL MONETARY STATUS, BUT IT IS ACCEPTED FOR PAYMENT IN A VARIETY OF TRADES AND, THEREFORE, IS QUALIFIED AS ISLAMIC TRADITIONAL MONEY. "
In Islam, commodities with an intrinsic value (gold, silver, salt) are considered coins. Both form of digital money and even fiduciary coins are only allowed if they are supported by a commodity of intrinsic value and with a fixed exchange rate. The gold standard allows gold-backed coins to be compatible with Sharia, for example. In this way, according to Bakar, as the blockchain undeniably proves the ownership of a digital asset, it ends up being more Sharia-compatible than the current banking system. Islamic principles are even being used for the development of a startup focused on the Arab world, HADA dBank.