The cryptocurrency space is beginning to attract the Islamic financial world. Regulators and financial exchanges in the Middle East region are working to ensure that finance is Sharia-compliant. To this effect, a Switzerland-based fintech firm, X8 AG has received a certification from the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) for its digital currency. Reports have it that X8 AG is seeking to expand its business in the Middle East.
Director and co-founder of X8, Francesca Greco revealed that the company hopes that its Ethereum -based stable coin which has the backing of eight fiat currencies and gold, can address some of the concerns of Islamic scholars. Most of these concerns revolve around the religious validity of cryptocurrencies, its price volatility and the types of assets backing these digital tokens.
The Zug based company received the certification from SRB, a Sharia consultancy and audit firm licensed by the central bank of Bahrain. SRB holds over 13% of the market share of Saudi Investment Companies. These companies are licensed by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). The SRB also holds over 21% of the Cooperative Insurance Firms which are Listed on the Saudi stock-exchange market.
X8 also has plans to launch a Sharia-compliant crypto exchange and has been in talks with local exchanges in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai. Greco revealed. “The Gulf region is a really good place for financial technology companies because they all want to become hubs for fintech.”
Several fintech firms are beginning to integrate their technology into the field of Sharia-compliant finance. Sometime in July, Stellar (XLM) claimed to be the first blockchain protocol to received a Sharia-compliant certification in the money transfer and asset tokenization field. Not to be left out, NOORCOIN, a crypto utility token was certified in March with a Sharia Certificate from the World Sharia Advisory Committee. Also, X8 has claimed to be a ‘pioneer of a unique class of stable tokens’.
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