Even before the mosque’s experiment, debate has been raging about the permissibility of cryptocurrencies under Islamic law as religious scholars deliberate the issue of sharia compliance.

Some religious scholars in Egypt, Turkey and India for example have directly opposed the use of cryptocurrencies citing various issues such as their use in illegal activities, widespread speculation and price volatility. Others, however, have declared bitcoin sharia compliant, paving the way for Islamic institutions to start accepting cryptocurrencies.

Considering that the worldwide Islamic finance market recently surpassed US$2 trillion, the issue of sharia compliance has huge economic significance. Muslims make up almost a quarter of the world’s population and Muslim countries account for approximately 10 percent of global gross domestic product.

To comply with sharia, financial products should avoid interest, speculation and excessive uncertainty. They should also be ethical and underlying contracts should be transparent, while Islamic financial instruments should be backed by real economic activity or a physical asset.

Against these benchmarks, concerns have been raised about widespread speculation and the extreme price volatility of cryptocurrencies. Furthermore the majority of cryptocurrencies have no underlying economic activity or physical asset.

However, taken to an extreme, strict interpretations of Islamic finance disapprove even of traditional fiat currencies — especially so after the gold standard was abandoned in 1971 and money lost its “real” value.

As a solution, some have argued for the creation of Islamic gold dinar and Islamic silver dirham currencies, backed by gold and silver, saying that such a system would alleviate several problems of modern economies such as inflation and recurring financial crises.

While the ambiguity about sharia compliance has kept many devout Muslims on the sidelines, companies across the Islamic world have started incorporating blockchain and cryptocurrencies into their business models. For example, in Abu Dhabi, Al Hilal Bank has used blockchain and smart contract technologies to settle a sharia compliant bond or sukuk worth $500 million. In Bahrain, a crypto token for money transfers received sharia certification from an advisory agency licensed by the nation’s central bank. And in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s monetary authority signed a partnership with blockchain firm Ripple to use the company’s platform for cross-border payment settlements.

One crypto solution that seems tailor-made for sharia compliance is stablecoin — a cryptocurrency backed by a stable commodity such as gold or silver.

Since the concepts of the Islamic gold dinar and Islamic silver dirham represent ideals of Islamic finance, a stablecoin backed by gold or silver provides an opportunity for an emergence of a “digital Islamic gold dinar” or “digital Islamic silver dirham”.

The market value of a stablecoin theoretically equals the value of its underlying collateral deposited in a crypto company’s bank account. Hence, a stablecoin should have a stable value regardless of the ups and downs of the rest of the crypto market. This should avoid excessive volatility fueled by speculation and market manipulation, although of course gold and silver are not completely immune from these.

Recently, a stablecoin issued by a Swiss firm and backed by a basket of eight fiat currencies and gold received sharia certification from a leading consultancy and audit firm in Bahrain.

However, a concern for collateralized coins is that they require intermediaries including the token issuer guaranteeing redeemability of the stablecoin and the banks safekeeping of the collateral. In this case credibility of an authenticator of the commodity held in reserves would be an issue.

Furthermore, the presence of intermediaries renders such schemes effectively centralized, and as a result subject to a single point of failure.

Along with their impact on Islamic finance, truly resilient stablecoins would profoundly impact the cryptocurrency world in various ways. For example, enabling crypto-based loans with significantly reduced volatility risk would make a large impact on lending and borrowing markets. Moreover, stablecoins could be used for payments, remittances, salaries and many other purposes.

If stablecoins prove resilient, they will unlock the blockchain potential to its fullest with the potential to even rival bitcoin as they become a truly global medium of exchange.

Islamic investors and entrepreneurs are increasingly aware of the seemingly endless opportunities.

While the debate over the permissibility of cryptocurrencies is still ongoing among Muslim scholars, governments must decide whether to back cryptocurrencies or risk being ostracized from the new economies. Furthermore, central banks in Muslim countries should embrace opportunities offered by the growing importance of cryptocurrencies.

In that spirit, development of stablecoins backed by gold or silver will revitalize a “digital Islamic gold dinar” or “digital Islamic silver dirham” providing a tailor-made solution for sharia compliant cryptocurrencies. Marrying the cryptocurrencies with key principles of Islamic finance may finally bring the needed stability and scale to Islamic finance.

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Emir Hrnjic is an adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Finance at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. Nikodem Tomczak is a research scientist and adjunct associate professor at the NUS School of Science. Both are cofounders of Block’N’White. The views expressed are their own.

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