An interesting debate amongst Islamic scholars.
Is Bitcoin Halal or Haram? Here’s What Islamic Scholars Are Saying
Most side with Bitcoin being halal; they point to it being a medium of exchange. This does not include Bitcoin derivatives, nor trading it to make a profit. Indeed, at the core is the idea that money should be used as an exchange of worthwhile work, and not in ways that generate more money purely from its manipulation.
This is why Islamic banks are not averse to money itself - else they wouldn't exist - but to the process of generating profits from activities considered haram. The definition of contention is that of speculative behaviour (maisir), but that means everything of value can be both halal or haram; that property is not intrinsic to the asset but to how a human uses it.
There is still a debate wheather it is halal or haram. I have seen rulings of various scholars and they are divided. North American Scholars have termed trading it in Spot as halal and other formats as haram.
Many scholars in Asia, especially India (as India is a hub for Islamic knowledge in Fiqh) have said it to be haram as it is no gold currency and it is not guaranteed by any Government.
And there have been huge crypto MLM related scams here in India so they fear ruling it as halal would mean more people falling for scams.
Ah, the age-old link between priests and rulers - backing up each other ;-) so, a currency backed by violence is ok, is halal? ;-)
I'm no islamic scholar, but still strikes me it is not an intrinsic quality but a function of an asset. Like a knife, can be a scalpel or a dagger.