Cryptocurrencies and the Causes of Prohibition from Shari’ah Perspective

Abstract

This research reviews the concept of cash and currencies, its development throughout history, its relationship to the modern image of digital currencies, and the definition of encrypted virtual currencies or the so-called cryptocurrencies. The aim of this research is to collect the various jurisprudence sayings that consider the impermissibility of dealing with such type of money, the reasons for prohibition, and its classification into three main sections according to the effects resulting from it: the spread of organized crime, violating the authority of the state, and encroachment on private money. The study then recommended the importance that researchers in Islamic law and jurisprudence sciences pay greater attention to study this calamity, and that governments should issue certified digital currencies that competes with current digital currencies, and benefit from its facilitates in order to preserve the currencies of their citizens and protect their financial and economic security.