The Position of Virtual Currency Bitcoin According to Islamic Perspective

Abstract

Bitcoin represents a new currency because of innovation to the current payment system. Its emergence as a decentralized virtual currency with its high value is the main attraction of its ownership. Nonetheless, with various innovations provided, bitcoin encounters legitimacy issues, regulatory ambiguity and being a platform for illegal activities. Thus, the main objective of this chapter is to identify bitcoin status as property according to the Islamic scholar’s views. It also aims to investigate and analyze bitcoin status as al-nuq?d (money) according to the Islamic scholar’s views and its position as virtual currency according to shariah perspective. This chapter framework applies qualitative methodology with content analysis methods. Data collection relies on document analysis descriptively from printed materials such as books, related academic writing and reliable internet sources. It reveals that bitcoin did not qualify as a property as determined by the jurists based on the risk of bitcoin’s speculation and the risk of security breaches that resulted in the loss of bitcoin owned thus categorizing bitcoin as a speculative investment and high-risk asset. The absence of thamaniyyah on bitcoin and the complexity of using bitcoin as unit of value as well as the occurrence of hacking series and malware attacks show that bitcoin does not function as al-nuq?d (money) even bitcoin is just a high-risk alternative payment method and insecure asset. This chapter also found that bitcoin is only a method of payment that is not generally accepted as a currency according to shariah based on the absence of public acceptance and the existence of ?arar (harm) as well as the risk of using bitcoin as a means of payment. This chapter proposes shariah regulations on the use of bitcoin to ensure the legitimacy of the use of currency in fulfilling the provisions of ?if? al-m?l (preservation of wealth).