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Islamic Coin, the first Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency, set to launch in May
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(Kitco News) - As blockchain technology slowly gains adoption around the world, the global Muslim population is set to get their first cryptocurrency ecosystem that abides by the principles and traditions of Islam with the launch of the Islamic Coin ($ISLM), the native coin of the Haqq ecosystem.
According to a report from Arabian Business, the public launch of the new token will take place in May. $ISLM operates on the Haqq blockchain, which is compatible with the Ethereum network and thousands of applications worldwide.
Haqq, which means ‘truth’ in Arabic, was designed to stringently abide by Islamic principles and traditions on finance. Islamic Coin will be the primary token of value within the ecosystem, providing the global Muslim population with a financial platform that offers a 100% halal cryptocurrency.
The new token was created to help address the reservations that observant Muslims currently have about digital assets and how they fit in with the customs of Islam. Islamic Coin has already received accreditation and authorization through the Fatwa of several Muslim authorities.
Haqq’s stated mission is to provide the global Muslim population with a financial platform enabling real-time, transparent, and cross-border transactions while supporting Web3 innovations and philanthropy.
To help achieve its philanthropic goals, the network has pledged to dedicate 10% of each Islamic Coin to Evergreen DAO – a non-profit virtual foundation focused on long-term sustainability and community impact – to fund community projects in the Muslim world.
To help with adoption, the Haqq Association, the ecosystem’s non-profit arm, has partnered with the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) to increase blockchain and crypto awareness with a positive learning environment.
Additionally, Haqq has formed several commercial partnerships with retail and e-commerce platforms to introduce Sharia-compliant Web3 technologies into traditional Web2 environments. Most recently, the project partnered with Holiday Swap, the world’s largest home exchange platform, to transition the company’s tokenized operations to Web3.
To help decide if a project wishing to launch on the Haqq blockchain is compliant with Islamic principles, Islamic Coin has appointed a Sharia board that includes 40 banks, with Standard Chartered, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank listed among its members.
Due to the public and open-source nature of the blockchain, projects that aren’t Sharia-compliant will still be able to launch on the network, but they will not receive the badge that indicates compliance and elicits a higher level of trust within the community.
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Last month, the Haqq Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the London-based DDCAP GroupTM to explore potential collaboration opportunities that utilize DDCAP’s Sharia-compliant financial technology to build industry-grade systems that can cater to the growing demand for such services. This includes the creation of a Web3 alternative to the SWIFT payments system.
According to Haqq co-founder Mohammed AlKaff AlHashmi, Islamic Coin has the potential to become a tier-one asset. “If only 3-4% of the online Muslim community holds the coin, it could become a Bitcoin-scale asset,” AlHashmi said.
The global Islamic finance market is expected to surpass $3.69 trillion by 2024, while the Halal products market is projected to surpass $4 trillion. “It’s not only about food anymore, it’s also about healthcare products, cosmetics, how to make sure that everything is really Halal and fits with community ethics and values,” AlHashmi said.
With a global population of more than 1.8 billion people, AlHashmi said the Muslim community represents an “untapped and underserved” market in the crypto world. He also noted that Islamic finance is also being embraced by non-Muslims, as at least 50 percent of Haqq’s private sales of Islamic Coin were purchased by non-Muslims.
In 2022, cryptocurrency transactions in the MENA region accounted for $566 billion in value, a 48% increase from the previous year.
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