1. Cryptocurrencies constitute a newly emergent type of virtual unbacked currency that : employs computer-generated codes and cryptographic technologies as a medium of exchange and means of transaction.
2. The concept of money in fiqh applies to cryptocurrencies, given that they have become a recognised medium of exchange in contemporary society. Consequently, it is permissible to transact with them according to Sharīʿah, and they fall under the same rulings that govern money in Islamic law in terms of acquisition, expenditure and consumption, while also being subject to the same Sharīʿah regulations that apply to other currencies.
3. A distinction must be made between the essence of these currencies and the domains of their use. Recognising their monetary character does not, in any way, entail the permissibility of all the activities conducted through them. Practices such as gambling, forgery, fraud, manipulation, or any other prohibited acts remain unlawful.
4. The fluctuations and volatility that cryptocurrencies undergo are natural, akin to the volatility that affects other forms of money and modern investment instruments such as stocks, bonds and ṣukūk. There is no inherent causal link between such volatility and the intrinsic reality of these currencies, which were originally introduced to protect investors from the excesses of the banking sector and brokerage systems.
5. States possess the absolute right to regulate the use of these currencies based on objective, verifiable realities—not propaganda—and in accordance with their national interests. They also have the absolute right to recognise them as a medium of exchange whenever the evidence demonstrates that their benefits outweigh their harms, irrespective of the suspicious propaganda campaigns waged by groups and lobbies that perceive their existence as a threat to their own survival and future. In Islamic jurisprudence, the ruler’s authority over his subjects is bound by the duty of serving the public interest (maṣlaḥah).
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