The current Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Allam issued an official fatwa that states that all cryptocurrency transactions and deals are violation of Islamic law.
Egypt first started trading bitcoins in August, 2017, however, recently secular authorities have established their negative attitude towards this issue.
Shawki Allam states that cryptocurrency always goes together with “fraud, deception and ignorance” and that cryptocurrency activities are actually similar to gambling, which is strictly forbidden in Islam.
“Bitcoins are banned by Sharia law, as they cause harm to individuals, groups of people and institutions”, – writes Egypt’s largest newspaper Al-Ahram.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt is also sure that cryptocurrency “impinges on the Egypt’s authority in preserving currency exchange”. Although fatwas are not legally binding, devout muslims take them extremely serious.