The cryptocurrency platform Australia-based Marhaba DeFi claims there has been a strong uptake of Shariah-approved cryptocurrency products on its platform, with a goal of launching a suite of new Shariah-compliant products by the end of 2022..
Released in 2020, the platform focuses on adhering to the rules of “Islamic finance,” which refers to how companies and individuals raise capital in accordance with Sharia, or Islamic law.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, the founder and CEO of Marhaba DeFi, Naquib Mohammed, said that the active users of his Sahal Wallet multi-chain wallet have grown to around 40,000 since its launch.stating:
“People need a platform where they can trust every token they interact with, so they don’t have to go hunting on different platforms, going to different scholars [islámicos] or experts, and ask them ‘can I invest in this protocol, this token, this strategy?’”
“You just have to download a wallet, and it will give you everything that is halal in the cryptocurrency ecosystem,” he adds..
Marhabahwhich means “welcome” in Arabic, also has four other Shariah-aligned cryptocurrency products launching this year, something Mohammed says will be an “end-to-end halal ecosystem.” for those excluded from the market due to non-compliance with Sharia.
The first is TijarX, which claims to be the first halal decentralized exchange (DEX) for commodity-backed tokens, a halal DeFi staking solution.a liquidity harvesting platform and a new version of its existing halal non-fungible token (NFT) market:
“The fundamental property of the blockchain is its transparency, it is immutable, so bringing Islamic finance to the blockchain makes a lot of sense. Because of that transparency, blockchain is the perfect piece of the puzzle to fit into this gap.”
The first cryptocurrencies to launch this month on the TijarX DEX will be tokenized silver and gold backed by real and audited bullion reserves. Mohammed says there are more things to be added to the platform, such as tokenized wheat, barley, soybeans and cocoa.
Mohammed says that there are already ongoing discussions, but nothing is added to the platform without a vetting process. that guarantees not only that the provider has enough liquidity to handle the volume, but also that it complies with Islamic laws:
“If the business is not sharia compliant, if it’s not halal, we can’t list it on the platform. All this is a very long and intensive process, but it seems very good to us.”
It is this process that made its MIRO staking platform take eight months to build “due to the difficulty of addressing Sharia compliance within the space”.
The staking platform is based on the Islamic concept of Ju’ala, something Mohammed describes as “rewards for working”. Users earn a “commission,” part of the platform’s revenue, for doing work within the platform, such as participating in governance and voting on proposals.
The Marhaba liquidity harvester works with an Islamic profit-and-loss-sharing financial arrangement called Mudarabah, in which one party provides the capital and the other the laborand both share the gains and losses.
Mohammed explains that charging or earning interest in Islam is considered exploitative, and that the liquidity harvester will be a “game changer” for those who are prohibited from accepting interest due to their beliefs.since they will be exposed to a similar product style.
Marhaba also offers solutions for Islamic businesses using NFTs, while the second version of its NFT marketplace will cater to businesses. Mohammed revealed that he has already partnered with five organizations that will use NFT.
In April, Marhaba issued the first NFT Halal certification and Mohammed said this was an area he personally wants to ensure finds usability and adoption as it will give consumers more transparency about the validity of a business’s Halal certification.:
“This NFT certification is a way to authorize, authenticate and guarantee that the certification is valid and not expired, that the business has renewed its certification.”
“We have been very appreciated in the community for it,” he added..
TijarX will go live on September 27, and the revamped NFT market is scheduled for the end of October. MIRO and the Liquidity Harvester are scheduled for the first weeks of November and Decemberrespectively.
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