Abstract

Islamic Finance operates with a set of rules different from the traditional finance world, guided by religious doctrines that date several centuries back. However, the Islamic Finance world is equally impacted by the growing reach of the borderless blockchain technology. As a result, cryptocurrency, a notable use case of the technology, has gained wide adoption in both secular and non-secular countries. This paper finds that cryptocurrencies, while novel, have some element much similar to the Islamic Finance principle. The transparency and accountability of cryptocurrency networks align very much with Islamic standards. In exploring these similarities, the paper finds that cryptocurrencies can benefit Islamic Finance in Nigeria.

Keywords: Islamic Finance, Nigeria, Cryptocurrency, Adoption