Swiss Crypto Firm gets Islamic Finance certification

5 years ago - Published in Fintech Land

Switzerland-based fintech firm X8 AG has received a certification from the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) for its Ethereum-based stablecoin, Reuters U.K. reports Nov. 12.

X8 AG is one among the many firms expanding into the Sharia-compliant finance to fit into the rapidly increasing blockchain and crypto world in the Middle East regions. So, the Islamic experts have been encouraged to assess blockchain and crypto start-ups for their validity based on religious grounds.

The X8 website says that a revolutionary new store of price for the traditional and distributed economy is brought to the world by the ultimate currency. The X8 project has created two Ethereum based tokens – the X8 currency which is fully supported with eight fiat currencies plus gold; and the X8X utility token which operates as a key in the distribution and exchange method of X8C with zero percent fee.

According to X8 director and co-founder, Francesca Greco, X8’s ETH-based crypto asset is a “stablecoin,” whose backing by a basket of eight fiat currencies and gold is considered to assuage Islamic advisors’ concerns over excessive volatility and speculation.

X8 AG is a Swiss-based firm administered in Zug a Switzerland’s crypto valley and was founded by Gregor Kozelj. The firm was established to regulate and administer all aspects of the X8 TGE and to offer software and IT solutions for financial portfolio applications.

Bitcoin (BTC) was was recognized as “generally permissible” under Sharia law this April by an internal Sharia advisor to fintech startup Blossom Finance. Sharia advisor Muhammad Abu Bakar included a warning that while he considers digital currencies to be halal (permissible), in most cases traders should not purchase them for investment purposes.

The X8 is also planning to set up a Sharia-compliant crypto firm and has already started discussing with firms in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain.

According to the reports, the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) licensed by Central Bank of Bahrain already has presented certification for its own cryptocurrency. Many experts see trading crypto similar to the transfer of rights which is allowed under Islamic regulations.