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OneGram claims to comply with Islamic finance requirements with its gold-backed, Sharia-compliant digital coin. Muslim countries Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates issued warnings against the use of alternative digital currencies. Islamic jurists in South Africa have ruled in favour of cryptocurrencies, arguing that they have become socially acceptable and commonly used. According to Max Vehmeyer, client relations manager at Kagiso Asset Management, the compliance of cryptocurrencies with Sharia law is still a grey area. This is partly because cryptocurrencies have inherent risks of fraud and cheating because of a lack of regulation, which is not in line with Islamic commercial jurisprudence. Vehmeyer says the introduction of a virtual currency like OneGram limits speculation to some degree.

Dubai's MAG Lifestyle Development will offer customers the opportunity to purchase properties using OneGram, the first Sharia-compliant crypto-currency. Talal Moafaq Al Gaddah, CEO of MAG Lifestyle Development stated that customers will benefit from the growing potential of crypto-currencies with OneGram. Each OneGram Coin (OGC) is backed by a gram of gold, which ensures that it remains a fully capitalised and stable digital currency. In compliance with Islamic Sharia law, it is also zero interest, profit-loss sharing, and non-speculative as it is pegged to gold. OneGram is also simple to buy and trade and will go live in June 2018. Mohammed Ibraheem Khan, co-founder of OneGram said this was the first real-world application for OneGram and the company was proud to be taking this step with MAG Lifestyle Development.

For many years, the global Islamic finance has been seen as a laggard in digital innovation, but now Islamic finance players are catching up with their conventional peers. According to Zeeshan Uppal, co-founder of crowdfunding company Yielders, fintech has opened up opportunities for Islamic finance to catch up because it allows scalability, which is in line with shariah law. Ibrahim Mohammed, the founder of OneGram, says that blockchain technology can create digital banks or P2P lending platforms that adhere to Islamic principles, and many other asset classes can be made shariah-compliant. Umar Munshi, founder of EthisCrowd, finds the slow innovation in Islamic finance perplexing as there is an urgent need for financial inclusivity. He expects to see more players in the takafultech, crowdfunding and P2P financing, payment and remittance, and smart contract space next year. According to EY’s Banking in Emerging Markets GCC FinTech Play 2017 report, Fintech can propel Islamic banks into the mainstream space in 20 promising markets by 2021, up from five markets today, and effectively add 150 million new Islamic banking customers.

The launch of the first-ever Islamic finance-compatible cryptocurrency could be a game changer for the entire Islamic banking industry. OneGram calls itself the world’s first Shariah-compliant cryptocurrency whose value is backed by actual gold reserves. The company started selling a total stock of 12.4mn digital tokens on May 21 that are backed by one gram of gold each. The Initial Coin Offering programme aims to raise around $500mn. At its sister company GoldGuard, OneGram will store the physical gold in a vault inside the Dubai Airport Free Zone. OneGram’s founder and CEO, Mohammed Ibrahim Khan, says he felt inspired by Bitcoin whose use is subdued in the Arab world. He added that OneGram has Shariah scholars on its board who ensure that the company is fully compliant with Islamic finance requirements. According to Mohammed, large-scale funds of more than $200mn have been committed by Dubai-based Tabarak Investment Capital. The sale of the OneGram coins is going on until September 22 this year and no more coins will be ever issued from then.

OneGram, a Sharia-compliant, gold-backed digital currency, has raised $461,497.59 so far in its OGC token crowdsale. The crowdsale will run for a total of 120 days, in which OneGram seeks to raise $500 million by selling over 12 million OGC tokens. For participating, investors are required to create an account on GoldGuard and purchase gold there. According to the official release, once the cryptocurrency is deployed on the blockchain, there will be a 1% transaction fee. 70% of transaction fees are reinvested to buy more gold, increasing the amount of gold that backs each token. 25% is used for development and operations, 2.5% is used for charity donations, and 2.5% is used to reward the POS miners. Sharia compliance is a key differentiator for the OGC token, the founders of OGC developed the solution so it would fit within the parameters of shariah law.