Bitcoin Start Up Finance Based On Islamic Sharia

[bitcoinvestor]

Matthew J. Martin is a 30-year-old who grow up in Earlville, New York as the son of a teacher and a skilled blue collar worker. He now lives in San Francisco, where he is building a business around using Bitcoin to allow Muslims around the world to participate in finance without breaking Islamic law.

Blossom is now based in Indonesia, where there is a demand for Islamic finance. While there wasn't enough demand for Islamic financing in the US, the opposite is true in Indonesia, where there are more than 200 million Muslims, according to Pew Research. "Eighty percent of the population is 'unbanked,'" Martin said. "There is a huge need for investment capital."

Blossom recently got its first investment from BMT Nusantara Condet, a financial institution that operates under Islamic principles.

"This investment will help 10 to 20 micro businesses within Indonesia to expand," Martin said. "The idea of helping people create their own businesses to earn a decent living holds a special place in my heart."

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-bitcoin-startup-that-helps-muslims-get-loans-without-breaking-islamic-law

[OmegaStarScream]

I guess that the project is going to be very successful If we take in consideration that there is ~1.7 billion muslim around the world today (assuming that the project will go worldwide at some point). If Muslims don't take loans , It's only because of the interest which is against our religion and something that allow to take loans without breaking our laws is more then welcomed.

[olubams]

Matthew J. Martin is a 30-year-old who grow up in Earlville, New York as the son of a teacher and a skilled blue collar worker. He now lives in San Francisco, where he is building a business around using Bitcoin to allow Muslims around the world to participate in finance without breaking Islamic law.

Blossom is now based in Indonesia, where there is a demand for Islamic finance. While there wasn't enough demand for Islamic financing in the US, the opposite is true in Indonesia, where there are more than 200 million Muslims, according to Pew Research. "Eighty percent of the population is 'unbanked,'" Martin said. "There is a huge need for investment capital."

Blossom recently got its first investment from BMT Nusantara Condet, a financial institution that operates under Islamic principles.

"This investment will help 10 to 20 micro businesses within Indonesia to expand," Martin said. "The idea of helping people create their own businesses to earn a decent living holds a special place in my heart."

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-bitcoin-startup-that-helps-muslims-get-loans-without-breaking-islamic-law

Its a good initiative, and I am sure he has good intentions but the reservations I have is why come with division? Bitcoin over the few years it has been in existence, has made transactions seamless where people pay for goods and services without caring for which faith you belong and scammers have also been there too without recourse to religion. But with this, I see it as now a means to separate Muslims from other people which I am sure negate the founding principles of the inventor of this technology.

[Sundark]

I am on board for any project and idea which will bolster bitcoin credibility and allow BTC to gain adoption.
If Muslims believe that standard banking system and collecting interests is evil, then Bitcoin might actually be the best for them.
But before seeing detailed explanation of how this lending platform will work exactly, I hold my judgement.

[AT101ET]

I don't see why BTC had to be used for this. I understand the use of the Blockchain and such but the same could be done using a paper trail of Bank Transfers etc. If the company was practicing legally then they'd clearly be on top of the loans they give out either way, so I don't see what added benefit the Blockchain transparency brings in this case.
Secondly, this isn't necessarily good for BTC. The loans themselves would just be converted to FIAT so the BTC link would end there...

[Hydrogen]

When I think of sharia law, I think of the taliban and ISIS.

The taliban engage in human trafficking, opium production, arms dealing and all types of illicit, illegal, activities. The taliban are essentially a criminal organization. One might say that ISIS is also organized crime and does many of these same things.

What could make sense here is this sharia bitcoin start up will be used by the taliban, ISIS and other pro sharia law groups for illegal things.

This article is from 2015. Wonder if there is an update to it, somewhere.

[dihari]

When I think of sharia law, I think of the taliban and ISIS.

The taliban engage in human trafficking, opium production, arms dealing and all types of illicit, illegal, activities. The taliban are essentially a criminal organization. One might say that ISIS is also organized crime and does many of these same things.

What could make sense here is this sharia bitcoin start up will be used by the taliban, ISIS and other pro sharia law groups for illegal things.

This article is from 2015. Wonder if there is an update to it, somewhere.

Hey dude, don't let the media put shit on your brain. Enough. You live as people who knows about blockchain technology, bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and you still have a brain like 1970's. Be smart.
I am from Indonesia, and I obedient to the Sharia law. It's our law's of God. Indonesia are not imposing the Sharia law in their country, it's all depend on the peoples personally.
One of the Sharia law is about finances. Islam has forbid a debt with interest. So you can see in Indonesia there is two kind of bank, it is conventional bank and Sharia bank.
Stop thinking about terorist, because there is no terorist in this world. There's only villains with religion masked.

[OmegaStarScream]

When I think of sharia law, I think of the taliban and ISIS.

The taliban engage in human trafficking, opium production, arms dealing and all types of illicit, illegal, activities. The taliban are essentially a criminal organization. One might say that ISIS is also organized crime and does many of these same things.

What could make sense here is this sharia bitcoin start up will be used by the taliban, ISIS and other pro sharia law groups for illegal things.

This article is from 2015. Wonder if there is an update to it, somewhere.

I find your comment racist somehow. There is 1.7 billion muslim out there, If they all do what you claim then everyone would be dead by now. Almost every muslim country out there don't impose the sharia law on their citizen but muslims impose them on themselves because they believe on them, If drinking and doing drugs is against the sharia law then you simply don't do them without the need of government watching you or making rules about them. It's mostly the personal belief.

[lowbander80]

Hey I live next door to a muslim,He runs his own IT firm and one of the most helpful people I know.Not all muslims belong to terrorist organisations most have a bigger hate of ISIS than us.

[pinkflower]

Blossom recently got its first investment from BMT Nusantara Condet, a financial institution that operates under Islamic principles.

What does that mean? All financial institutions operate under only one principle: GREED. Im not saying greed is bad. In their industry, its needed actually. Their competitors will eat them alive if their not willing to be ruthless. That brings me to the question how much interest is Blossom charging to the micro businesses that borrowed money from them?

[Hydrogen]

Hey dude, don't let the media put shit on your brain. Enough. You live as people who knows about blockchain technology, bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and you still have a brain like 1970's. Be smart.
I am from Indonesia, and I obedient to the Sharia law. It's our law's of God. Indonesia are not imposing the Sharia law in their country, it's all depend on the peoples personally.
One of the Sharia law is about finances. Islam has forbid a debt with interest. So you can see in Indonesia there is two kind of bank, it is conventional bank and Sharia bank.
Stop thinking about terorist, because there is no terorist in this world. There's only villains with religion masked.

I think we can all agree Bitcoin isn't a good currency for loans or lending, sharia loans or other loans; its the same.

It doesn't make sense to build a sharia loan network utilizing bitcoin. Not everyone has a computer or cell phone to make bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin probably isn't as well supported as local currencies in indonesia or elsewhere, this doesn't change. If legal disputes arose, it would be difficult to prove which person each bitcoin address belongs to. There's a reason scammers target bitcoin--its because they can cheat people with bitcoin and they will probably get away with it. You understand this? Bitcoin sharia loans don't make sense, bitcoin isn't a good currency for loans.

The most likely reason a person would build a "sharia bitcoin loan agency" is probably to create another version of silk road for criminal purposes. One that might be used to fund terrorism/extremism. If that happened, it could be bad for bitcoins credibility.

That is why I don't support this.

There are much better ways to implement sharia lending than bitcoin. If you think that's racist, I would like to know why you think this is so.

[Hazir]

Hey dude, don't let the media put shit on your brain. Enough. You live as people who knows about blockchain technology, bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and you still have a brain like 1970's. Be smart.
I am from Indonesia, and I obedient to the Sharia law. It's our law's of God. Indonesia are not imposing the Sharia law in their country, it's all depend on the peoples personally.
One of the Sharia law is about finances. Islam has forbid a debt with interest. So you can see in Indonesia there is two kind of bank, it is conventional bank and Sharia bank.
Stop thinking about terorist, because there is no terorist in this world. There's only villains with religion masked.

I think we can all agree Bitcoin isn't a good currency for loans or lending, sharia loans or other loans; its the same.

It doesn't make sense to build a sharia loan network utilizing bitcoin. Not everyone has a computer or cell phone to make bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin probably isn't as well supported as local currencies in indonesia or elsewhere, this doesn't change. If legal disputes arose, it would be difficult to prove which person each bitcoin address belongs to. There's a reason scammers target bitcoin--its because they can cheat people with bitcoin and they will probably get away with it. You understand this? Bitcoin sharia loans don't make sense, bitcoin isn't a good currency for loans.

The most likely reason a person would build a "sharia bitcoin loan agency" is probably to create another version of silk road for criminal purposes. One that might be used to fund terrorism/extremism. If that happened, it could be bad for bitcoins credibility.

That is why I don't support this.

There are much better ways to implement sharia lending than bitcoin. If you think that's racist, I would like to know why you think this is so.

Interesting view. I kinda share the same opinion. Muslim banking system is full of ridiculous laws and workarounds.
Islam forbids interests, so banks or lenders need to find profits elsewhere. Standard situation is when the bank will 'look over' borrower's business.
The profit from that business will be shared with the bank, so it is not technically an interests.
I feel like using cryptourrencies might be another way to 'cheat' that religious system. But this time it's probably due to bitcoin volatility or exchange rate.

[bitcoinvestor]

As I know there is know cheating in Islamic law in all aspects economy, law, and others. If there is a cheat, it is not the law of islam but the people who practice the law.

[n0ne]

Nothing to offend the Islamic religion or followers. I came to know that an institute or financial service demanding to pay interest for loans itself an opposing of their law. In reality one or two Islamic banks follow it, but no bank pay interest for the savings made. So I don't think this is that necessary as people have already violated in a big scale.

[AngelSky]

Nothing to offend the Islamic religion or followers. I came to know that an institute or financial service demanding to pay interest for loans itself an opposing of their law. In reality one or two Islamic banks follow it, but no bank pay interest for the savings made. So I don't think this is that necessary as people have already violated in a big scale.

I was been work in Middle East region for some years and I had the salary and savings account at there. Islamic banks will not put interest to your account and won't collect the interest or any charges simply. In the month Ramadan they use the take automatically some fund from each Islamic person's account who have an account in Islamic banks as a Zakath. If bitcoin arise to move with the Islamic-based services. It will be really great for all Muslims around the world.

[Clement Kaliyar]

I was been work in Middle East region for some years and I had the salary and savings account at there. Islamic banks will not put interest to your account and won't collect the interest or any charges simply. In the month Ramadan they use the take automatically some fund from each Islamic person's account who have an account in Islamic banks as a Zakath. If bitcoin arise to move with the Islamic-based services. It will be really great for all Muslims around the world.

I am not sure how things work with the said bank and if you are talking about dubai islamic bank i am sure that there wont be any charges during ramdan and they wont take anything in the name of zakath but as any banks you have to pay service charges and if you really think that the so called banks will take any unforseen money ,which i never had a experience ,you can shift to other banks.

[btccashacc]

As a muslim i really want a bitcoin start up finance based on our religion's perspective. I am currently using "Islamic Bank" where they can't charge interest because of shari'a instead invested our money like purchase something to get profit. Under Islamic law, money must not be allowed to create more money for example lending money to someone and charged interest of it and it's clearly that islam prohibits ribaa (charged interest), after reading that news i am so gratefull especially for Marthew for making this start up because this is the first one, now muslims in this world can contribute in the cryptocurrency and making profit without worried about ribaa. I wish this will successfull.

[lowbander80]

If the project is not going right I would be happy with others, Muslim or not help make it possible by starting a project of our own.I am non-muslim and it would be good to have an interfaith team

[00hash01]

If the project is not going right I would be happy with others, Muslim or not help make it possible by starting a project of our own.I am non-muslim and it would be good to have an interfaith team

The main thing is that bitcoin does not begin to help terrorism. If good Muslims are engaged in crypto currency, then this is even good.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

If the project is not going right I would be happy with others, Muslim or not help make it possible by starting a project of our own.I am non-muslim and it would be good to have an interfaith team

Ehhh...how about having a money that has no fucking religious connection or importance to it at all?  Frankly I agree with the guy above who said that Islamic banking is full of stupid restrictions and so forth.  When you start to impose your delusion of god upon any banking system, guess what?  It will tend to be very messed up.  I could care less what muslims do with their money.  Keep religion out of it and fucking far away from this forum at least.