Key takeaways
- No ruling cited here names Bitcoin alone. Published positions run from permitted on conditions to prohibited, and each depends on how the asset is held and used.
- Permitting: on 29 June and 20 July 2020 the Shariah Advisory Council of Securities Commission Malaysia recognised digital assets as property and allowed trading on exchanges registered with the regulator.
- Prohibiting: a fatwa by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, reported on 10 July 2026, holds that crypto is not property.
- Owning Bitcoin outright involves no loan and no return, so the interest test is not raised. Lending, margin and futures raise it.
- A “compliant” label is not a ruling. Fasset's own list labels Bitcoin compliant but names no reviewer, method or date.
The short answer: it depends on which test you apply
Bitcoin is neither declared halal nor haram by any single authority. A regulator's Shariah council in Malaysia permits trading in digital assets on registered exchanges, Indonesia's council of scholars prohibits crypto as a currency and allows a narrow exception, and a fatwa reported in July 2026 rejects crypto as property altogether. Which view applies to you depends on the scholar you follow.
This guide is an explainer, not a religious ruling. It takes the five tests scholars apply, which are set out in full in our guide to whether crypto is halal, and asks what each one says about Bitcoin specifically. It does not tell you what to do; a religious question belongs with a scholar you trust. It is part of the Fasset Learn hub.
Terms used in this guide
- Mal (maal): property: something with value that can be owned and traded.
- Riba: interest, meaning any excess a lender stipulates on a loan.
- Gharar: uncertainty about what is being exchanged; it voids a contract only when excessive.
- Maysir: gambling, a stake on an uncertain outcome.
- Fatwa: a scholar's or council's opinion on a question of Islamic law. It binds those who follow that authority.
Why Bitcoin is a different question from “crypto”
Rulings on “crypto” often treat thousands of tokens as one thing, but Bitcoin has features that change how the tests apply. It has no issuer to redeem it and no company that pays holders a return, so owning it outright does not by itself raise the interest test.
That makes Bitcoin the simplest case for two tests (riba and lawful purpose) and the hardest for two others (property and uncertainty). A stablecoin such as USDT raises different questions, because a company issues and redeems it; Bitcoin has no such counterparty. The sister guide covers that contrast in its section on Bitcoin and stablecoins in brief.
How the five tests apply to Bitcoin
| Test | What it asks | How it applies to Bitcoin | Where views split |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Property (mal) | Can it be owned, valued and transferred? | The Malaysian framework treats a digital currency built on technology alone as goods ('urudh) that can be owned and traded, where the regulator has approved it | The July 2026 fatwa holds that no cryptocurrency is property |
| 2. Interest (riba) | Is a loan or fixed return involved? | Owning it outright involves no loan and no return | Lending it for a fixed return, or borrowing to buy it, can raise the test |
| 3. Uncertainty (gharar) | Is the uncertainty excessive? | You can know what you are buying and receive it in your own wallet | Whether a volatile price is itself gharar is disputed |
| 4. Gambling (maysir) | Is it a purchase or a bet on a price? | An outright purchase with delivery is a sale | Futures, options and leverage are treated as bets |
| 5. Lawful purpose | What does it fund or represent? | The Malaysian conditions concern what a token's proceeds fund and what rights it carries; Bitcoin has no issuer raising funds | Few rulings address a token with no issuer by name |
| Applied by the Fasset Research Team to the rulings listed in Sources. Each ruling is a religious opinion; none is a law, and this table is not a fatwa. | |||
Property: the test that decides the rest
The property test is where the camps part. The Shariah Advisory Council of Securities Commission Malaysia resolved at meetings on 29 June and 20 July 2020 that digital assets are property and may be traded on exchanges registered with the regulator. It also set a limit: the permission covers only assets within that regulator's jurisdiction, so it is a ruling for one supervised market and not for every platform.
A fatwa by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, reported by The News on 10 July 2026, goes the other way. As reported, it treats crypto as a notional entry in an account, not as wealth, so buying goods with it is not permissible. If you follow that view, the other four tests do not arise. The fatwa's own text was not read for this guide, and it answered one question about a purchase.
Uncertainty: where Bitcoin's price comes in
Bitcoin's price is highly volatile, which is why the uncertainty and gambling tests are raised even for outright purchases. The standard AAOIFI sets on gharar (No. 31) concerns goods that may not exist, terms that are not fixed and delivery that may not happen, not price movement. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) nonetheless lists gharar among its grounds. This is an open disagreement, and we do not resolve it here.
What the published rulings say about Bitcoin
None of the rulings below names Bitcoin alone; each addresses crypto-assets or digital currencies generally. Read them as rulings on a category that includes Bitcoin, and apply the conditions each one sets.
- Malaysia (permits, on conditions). A digital currency built on technology alone, with no underlying asset, is goods and not currency, so the rules of currency exchange do not apply to trading it. Trading is allowed on exchanges registered with the Securities Commission.
- Indonesia (prohibits as currency, narrow exception). The MUI Fatwa Commission, meeting in Jakarta on 9 to 11 November 2021, held that using cryptocurrency as a currency is haram and that crypto as a commodity is not valid to trade unless it meets the conditions for a lawful commodity (sil'ah) and has an underlying asset and a clear benefit.
- Pakistan (prohibits). The July 2026 fatwa, summarised above.
The Indonesian exception is the one that matters most for Bitcoin, because the conditions it sets (a physical form, value, a known quantity, ownership and the ability to hand it to the buyer) are the ones scholars debate when they discuss a token with no issuer. Whether Bitcoin meets them is a question for a scholar, not for a regulator or a provider.
How you hold Bitcoin matters as much as what it is
Two people can hold the same asset and reach different results, because the contract around it differs. The tests apply to the arrangement as well as the coin.
- Outright purchase, held in your own wallet or account. No loan, a known quantity, and delivery. Tests two to four raise no flag on the usual reading.
- Lending or earn products. A fixed amount paid on tokens handed over for others to use looks like a loan with a stipulated excess, which is the definition of riba.
- Futures, options and margin. AAOIFI's standards do not permit futures or options (No. 20), bar forward and futures deals in currencies (No. 1) and do not permit buying shares with an interest-bearing broker loan (No. 21). Scholars carry those rules over to crypto by analogy, since AAOIFI has no standard on crypto-assets.
- Staking. None of the cited rulings addresses staking by name, so the answer depends on the mechanism and the contract terms.
Why a “Shariah-compliant” label does not settle it
Fasset publishes a screening list of its own. When last checked for the sister guide it covered 240 assets, 188 labelled as compliant and 52 as not compliant, and it showed no reviewer, no method and no date. That list labels Bitcoin as compliant. We have not confirmed which assets Fasset FZE currently offers for purchase; the disclosure page on fasset.com is the place to check.
A label is a claim until the reviewer, the method and the date are named. Fasset's About page says that every account, service and investment is delivered without interest, which speaks to one of the five tests (riba) and to nothing else. It names no Shariah board and publishes no certificate or screening method, so this guide makes no compliance claim for Fasset.
A label is not a ruling. Ask who screened the coin, by what method, and when.
How to decide for yourself in four steps
Pick the authority you follow
Decide whose ruling binds you: a scholar, a national council or a Shariah board. The rulings above come from Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan and do not agree.
Ask the property question first
If your authority holds that crypto is not property, the matter ends there. If it holds that it is, move to the contract.
Check the arrangement, not only the coin
Is it an outright purchase with delivery, or a loan, a lending product or a contract settled in cash? Use the five tests on each product.
Check the firm
Whether a provider is lawful is a separate, checkable question. The guide on whether crypto is legal in the UAE shows how to read a VARA register entry, and the security page explains how to avoid impersonation sites.
If you use Fasset
Fasset FZE is licensed by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai for Broker-Dealer Services, licence VL/23/07/002, issued on 30 November 2023 (VARA register entry for Fasset FZE). That licence covers Broker-Dealer Services carried on in or from Dubai and permits retail clients. Fasset is not a bank, and balances are not bank deposits or covered by a deposit guarantee scheme. A licence is supervision of the firm. It is not a religious ruling, and it does not protect the value of what you buy.
Charges are published on the fees page, and short answers about Fasset itself are in the FAQ. Read the risk disclosure before you buy any virtual asset.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bitcoin halal or haram?
Published rulings split three ways and none names Bitcoin alone. Malaysia's Shariah Advisory Council permits trading in digital assets on registered exchanges, Indonesia's MUI prohibits crypto as a currency with a narrow exception, and a fatwa reported in July 2026 holds that crypto is not property. The answer depends on the authority you follow and on how you hold it.
Is buying Bitcoin halal?
Where a scholar accepts digital assets as property, an outright purchase with delivery involves no loan and no stipulated return, so the interest and gambling tests raise no flag on the usual reading. Scholars who hold that crypto is not property reject it entirely. Buying on borrowed money or through futures raises further objections.
Is Bitcoin trading halal?
It depends on the contract. Buying and selling a coin you own, with delivery each time, is trading of the kind the Malaysian resolution permits on registered exchanges. Leverage, margin and contracts settled only in cash meet the interest and gambling tests, and AAOIFI's standards do not permit futures or options.
Does a “Shariah-compliant” label on Bitcoin make it halal?
No. A label is a claim until the reviewer, the method and the date are published. Fasset's own screening list labels Bitcoin as compliant but, when we checked it, named no reviewer, method or date. Treat it as a starting point for your own screening, not as a ruling.
Is Bitcoin legal in the UAE?
Lawfulness is a separate question from whether it is halal. Dubai's Law No. (4) of 2022 regulates the firms that offer virtual assets and does not prohibit the asset, so buying through a licensed firm is lawful. See the guide on whether crypto is legal in the UAE for the regulators and how to check a licence.
Sources
The rulings below were opened and read for the sister guide on 12 October 2026 and were not re-opened for this page. Statements about Fasset come from fasset.com, read on 6 and 12 October 2026, and from the VARA register. The text of the July 2026 fatwa was not read; only the press report was.
- Securities Commission Malaysia, Resolutions of the Shariah Advisory Council: Digital Assets from Shariah Perspective, 233rd and 234th meetings (29 June and 20 July 2020), sc.com.my/development/icm/shariah/resolutions-of-the-shariah-advisory-council-of-the-sc, accessed 12 October 2026.
- Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), Keputusan Fatwa Hukum Uang Kripto atau Cryptocurrency, 12 November 2021, in Indonesian, mui.or.id/baca/berita/keputusan-fatwa-hukum-uang-kripto-atau-cryptocurrency, accessed 12 October 2026.
- The News International (Pakistan), Cryptocurrency transactions impermissible under Shariah: Mufti Taqi Usmani, 10 July 2026, thenews.pk/print/1425134-cryptocurrency-transactions-impermissible-under-shariah-mufti-taqi-usmani, accessed 12 October 2026. A press report; the fatwa's own text was not read.
- AAOIFI, Shari'ah Standards, English volume of standards 1 to 54 as published on the page (Nos. 1, 20, 21 and 31 are cited here), aaoifi.com/shariaa-standards/?lang=en, accessed 12 October 2026.
- Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, public register entry for Fasset FZE, vara.ae/en/licenses-and-register/public-register/fasset-fze/, accessed 12 October 2026.
- Government of Dubai, Supreme Legislation Committee, Law No. (4) of 2022 Regulating Virtual Assets in the Emirate of Dubai, dlp.dubai.gov.ae, Law No. (4) of 2022, accessed 12 October 2026.
Not a ruling and not investment advice
For information only. Not investment, legal, tax or religious advice. This guide summarises published rulings and is not a fatwa. Bitcoin is highly volatile, and you may lose the amounts you put in.