Com Mirza, the Dubai-based serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist has unveiled one of his latest projects, a Shariah-compliant cryptocurrency named Habibi Coin. It allows Muslims invest in line with their faith and without paying interest. Just as Bitcoin, it would work as a decentralized payment system of digital currency with peer-to-peer transactions and no intermediaries.
Mirza is now planning a US$100 million initial coin offering. He already raised US$3 million and confirmed there was a 750-member syndicate ready to invest in Habibi Coins.
Asked about his motivation to establish Habibi Coins, Mirza said he wanted to help Muslims buy a home as it was their biggest concern. Therefore, he decided to avoid the traditional interest-based mortgage system and came up with an innovative solution.
Muslims will now be able to buy a property through the Habibi Coin platform. Subsequently, the new buyers would be granted a Shariah-compliant way of obtaining ownership.
The Dubai millionaire stated he had met many fellow entrepreneurs from the Middle East and beyond who had been looking for Shariah-compliant financial alternatives to the mortgage but they failed to find them. According to Mohammed Paracha, an advisory board member of Habibi Coin, the aim of Islamic finance was namely to protect the average person from unfair business practices, not in line with his religion. While the traditional mortgages did not serve the Muslims best interests, Habibi Coins did. The innovative solution would help all the Muslim community, but it would be especially useful for people in need, single parents, or people experiencing financial difficulties.
Although the cryptocurrency business is evolving every day, there are still many people who are unaware or skeptical about it. However, the change is inevitable, as Ahmad Abdullah Bugshan, Board Member at the Arabian Bugshan Group and Vice President of House of Invention International recently noted: “The region, particularly the Gulf, is moving strategically towards technology-enabled economies and this is impacting business and transactions across the Government and private sector”.