A research paper published this week declares Bitcoin compliant with Shariah law. This means that investing in bitcoin is officially halal (kosher) and therefore not against the Muslim faith. This means that all the very rich royal families living in Muslim countries and practicing the Muslim faith are able to invest in Bitcoin without challenging their faith. This is good news for the cryptocurrency market and could very well be the reason that Bitcoin had a record breaking 1hr green candle yesterday morning increasing by more than $1000 in value.
This week a microfinance firm based in Indonesia, Blossom Finance, published a 22-page working paper that concludes that “bitcoin qualifies as Islamic money, except where it is banned by a local government.”
Matthew J. Martin, the founder of the startup Blossom Finance.
“Contrary to popular myth, Shariah law is not a single set of rules; it’s is a scholarly field subject to differing interpretations and opinions on various matters,” explains the CEO of Blossom Finance. “Several recent fatawah issued by prominent Muslim scholars offered incomplete or contradictory opinions on the topic. With all the confusion out there, we wanted to offer clear guidance supported by solid research that benefits both laypeople and practitioners of Islamic finance.”
Although Bitcoin qualifies as Islamic money as long as thew local laws don't forbid it, ICOs are still "uncertain and not advised." This is because one of the main goals of Shariah is to preserve wealth and understand that individuals should not invest more than they are willing to lose.
Source of information and pictures
Below is a video of another article read by Peter Saddington on Decentralized.tv about this study. He also throws in his own opinion about the subject.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to upvote, resteem and follow me for more great content. I will be doing a Dlive stream at about 1pm EST playing my favourite game The Witcher 3 to celebrate making it to 1100 followers. Drop by and say hi on this unlucky Friday the 13th.