Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, president of the Wifaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan and Darul Uloom Karachi, has issued a fatwa stating buying goods with cryptocurrency is not permissible under Islamic law.
According to the fatwa, cryptocurrency does not qualify as wealth under Sharia and is merely a record of notional numbers in an account. It states that purchasing goods through any form of cryptocurrency is not permissible.
The fatwa, per reports, was issued after Usmani was asked whether purchases made using cryptocurrency were valid under Islamic law. The questioner said he had bought two books from a person, one using a crypto token and the other using USDT (Tether), and asked whether the transactions were religiously valid and what he should do if they were not.
The questioner also sought guidance on purchasing an educational course from a person who was not authorized to sell it, as the original author had directed it not be shared.
The fawa advised the questioner to return the books to the seller, as any purchase through cryptocurrency was impermissible. It also said the educational course was not permissible, as it violated law.