Please note that I am not a financial advisor. The following article is for the sole purpose of providing educational information on the topic discussed.

In a previous post dedicated to the videogame The Sandbox, I explained that this is a game/platform based on the Ethereum blockchain in which players can create their own virtual worlds, games, characters, and objects to later monetize and share them with other users.

Play-to-Earn videogames based on blockchain technology and the Metaverse have important differences and advantages over other similar games such as Minecraft or Roblox since they are decentralized games in which all your digital assets really belong to you, besides that, you can also financially benefit from them.

In this continuation post about The Sandbox, I’ll show you what you need to know to start making money with this great game, and what are the options available for this insha’Allah (God willing).

How to make money with The Sandbox

The first thing you need to start making money on The Sandbox platform is to own some of its native cryptocurrency, $SAND.

In the previous post, I mentioned that this is an ERC-20 utility token that is used for all important in-game transactions. These activities can include everything from buying digital objects, participating in challenges to win more $SAND tokens, to creating new objects that you can then sell on the platform’s marketplace.

In addition, $SAND is also essential for you as a player, since if you want new equipment and items for your avatar, you’ll have to pay with $SAND for these. It’s also necessary if you want to play the games created by other users.

Basically, The Sandbox has its own virtual economy developed in its own metaverse and based on its own native cryptocurrency. The best thing is that you can earn money both actively and passively while having fun. A gamer’s dream come true.

Although there are different ways to acquire $SAND within The Sandbox, if you are a new user, it is best to buy some $SAND to start. You can buy this at any reputable exchange, Binance being one of the best options available. Let’s now see the most popular methods to earn money with The Sandbox.

Create and publish games

You have to assume that modern everyday life is not very exciting at times: wake up in the morning, go to work, return home, maybe get some rest on the weekend and repeat the process all over again. Every – day – of – your – life…

But how about becoming a secret spy, a soldier in World War II, or an adventurer in the Amazon jungle?

Well, thanks to the technology developed by the videogame industry and if you are a creative individual with some design skills, you can create adventures that other users can enjoy within The Sandbox.

Thanks to the Sandbox Game Maker design tool, you can create these experiences and publish them in portions of LAND for other users to enjoy by paying a small fee in $SAND tokens, generating passive income for you that will increase as more and more users are part of The Sandbox.

Buy and sell land for a profit

Today, and thanks to the growing interest of investors in the Metaverse, virtual lands can be worth as much as lands in the real world. In fact, parcels of virtual land have been sold for millions of dollars. In The Sandbox, LAND works as an NFT token that can be shaped to offer different virtual experiences to other users, as we saw above.

Based on this, buying portions of LAND and then selling them when they have increased in value, can be a very lucrative business. These operations can be carried out directly through The Sandbox Marketplace or through a third-party NFT exchange. Keep in mind that the price of a portion of LAND may vary depending on a number of factors, such as its size or other additional features.

Rent your LAND

Another good way to earn money if you own one or more portions of LAND, is to rent these virtual spaces to other users who want to create, publish, and monetize games and other similar experiences. Keep in mind, however, that any gaming experience built on your portion of LAND will remain the property of its designer.

Regarding the price you can charge for the rental of your LAND, as I mentioned above, this will depend on several factors, including the size of the virtual land portion, as well as its proximity to other popular communities and gaming experiences within The Sandbox metaverse.

Play to Earn

The Play-to-Earn model is here to stay. Gone is investing time and money in videogames that won’t pay you anything for your hard work and dedication. The Sandbox joins games like Axie Infinity and Decentraland in the Play-to-Earn model to allow its users to earn money in the form of cryptocurrency just by playing and participating in the playful creations of other users.

The best part is that, since these transactions are made through the Ethereum network, people can exchange their earnings for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies with relative ease.

Buy and sell ASSETS in The Marketplace

While you can create ASSETS – the objects used within the game, such as weapons, vehicles, etc. – with the VoxEdit tool and then sell them, an easier way to earn money with them is to buy ASSETS created by other users and then resell them to obtain profits.

Take into account that a single article can belong to several categories, so the possibilities are almost limitless:

• Creative art
• Collectible rarities
• Investment objects
• Commemorative items
• Certifications of participation
• Badges supporting a cause
• Skins

These are all reasons for people to purchase virtual items with gaming utility.

Uniswap liquidity pools

You can also participate as a liquidity provider in the Uniswap $SAND-ETH pool to generate passive income in the form of $SAND. Additionally, if you own LAND and use yield multipliers, you can increase the amount of $SAND you earn, as well as get rare and exclusive NFTs.

However, when it comes to liquidity pools, you should make sure that the way you are earning money is permissible (halal).

Other alternative ways to earn $SAND and NFT tokens

Here are some alternate ways you can try to give yourself more chances to earn rewards in the form of cryptocurrency tokens.

The Sandbox giveaways

From time to time, the team behind The Sandbox organizes events and giveaways that any member of the community can participate in to win lots of $SAND tokens. These events are usually carried out through official livestreams on networks or on the official website.

Community-hosted events

You can also earn $SAND tokens and NFTs by participating in contests and competitions run by LAND owners. These owners hold such events as a way to promote their games and activities hosted within their portions of LAND. Keep an eye on social media.

When it comes to earning money through competitions, please be aware that the ulema has guidelines on what types of income are permissible through competition.

I discuss this in the following blog post, Axie Infinity Overview and is Axie Infinity Halal?

Ambassador Program

If you have a website, YouTube channel, or blog, you can participate in the Ambassador Program to earn rewards by helping to promote the game. The more active you are answering questions, writing great articles, and creating videos, the more likely you are to earn cool rewards.

The Sandbox Marketplace

The Sandbox Marketplace is the portal where users of this great gaming metaverse can buy or sell game objects created by the users themselves, as well as virtual lands in the form of NFTs. This marketplace is a key element that has contributed to further expanding the interest of users and investors in The Sandbox, and it’s a very dynamic and continuously growing component that you’ll have to go through sooner or later, either as a buyer or seller.

In the marketplace, it is possible to buy and sell all kinds of ASSETS in the form of buildings, weapons, characters, vehicles, and other items, as well as GEM tokens. However, it’s also possible to buy or rent portions of LAND directly from the portal.

Bear in mind that this is a free market that works based on supply and demand, so asset prices will change constantly, and all operations are carried out in the native currency $SAND. It is also necessary to have some Ether to pay the Ethereum gas fees in addition to the fee that the marketplace takes, which is 5%, for the amount of each transaction. The fee applies to sellers.

One of the most attractive aspects of this marketplace, especially if you are a 3D artist, is that the 5% fee that is applied to each sale goes directly to a fund that is used to finance the projects of the most talented artists that bring value to the platform.

In general terms, The Sandbox Marketplace is a fairly intuitive and easy-to-use platform, and more and more users are taking their place on it, so the quantity, variety, and quality of assets are guaranteed.

Final words

The Sandbox metaverse has its own very well developed digital economy, and it’s just one small example of the direction in which the Metaverse and the digital economy, in general, are heading. It’s no longer simply about playing and exploring, but with the entire ecosystem developed based on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, we are seeing a whole new world of opportunities before us.

And the best thing is that anyone who wants to participate can do so without being limited by their geographical location or economic position.

And the best thing is that anyone who wants to participate can do so by complying with the corresponding requirements, without being limited by their geographical location or economic position.

As I said at the beginning, a gamer’s dream come true…

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Please note that I am not a financial advisor. The following article is for the sole purpose of providing information on the topic discussed.

In recent months, videogames based on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and that are also somehow related to the metaverse and the Play-to-Earn model, such as Axie Infinity, Decentraland, and today’s topic, The Sandbox, have quickly become trends in the crypto industry.

So, what is The Sandbox metaverse?

In an innovative, fun, and attractive presentation, The Sandbox is a gaming blockchain platform that allows users to own, create, play, and monetize their gaming experiences as well as earn SAND – the platform’s native cryptocurrency – by owning, selling, or renting plots of land or by simply selling their ideas in the platform’s marketplace.

In this article, we’ll cover The Sandbox ecosystem and the variety of components that are making it so popular; the possibilities within this new metaverse, the utilities of its tokens, the variety of resources available for its users, and if it is halal. Let’s get started.

What is The Sandbox?

As I already mentioned, The Sandbox is a gaming platform that allows users to create their own virtual worlds, similar to the popular Minecraft and Roblox games.

This videogame has been available on iOS and Android mobile devices since 2012 – the original version was in 2D – gaining a lot of popularity among the public, reaching 40 million downloads in 2018.

However, in the same year 2018, Animoca Brands bought the rights to the game from the original company, Pixowl, to develop The Sandbox platform with Voxel-style graphics quite similar to the aforementioned games. However, Animoca made one major change to the original game:

They placed The Sandbox game on the Ethereum blockchain.

As with games like Decentraland, this feature now allows users to build their own virtual worlds and develop a digital economy within the game that can also be extended outside of the game, taking The Sandbox to a whole new level. Thanks to blockchain technology, The Sandbox players have total freedom to monetize their digital worlds through the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with all the possibilities that this entails.

The Sandbox was implemented on the Ethereum network to give it the security and strength of the world’s second-largest blockchain, which in turn creates the opportunity for its users to create games independently on its platform around the world and without a central regulatory authority.

Currently, The Sandbox has a hybrid structure that hosts the virtual world partly on centralized servers, while the processes related to tokens and other collectibles, run on a decentralized blockchain. This ensures broad freedom for developers while ensuring that players have ownership of their collectibles, characters, and other digital items at all times.

How does The Sandbox work?

The Sandbox is possible thanks to the implementation of smart contracts on the Ethereum network. This also facilitates the creation of tokens and NFTs through a series of processes and interactions very similar to what is seen in other Play-to-Earn games based on this blockchain. After that, we have three elements that are key for The Sandbox ecosystem to function properly:

1. The powerful VoxEdit 3D editor

Animoca has resorted to the use of the VoxEdit design tool; a powerful software that allows the generation of all kinds of graphics and 3D environments, as well as animations and even NFTs. These elements can then be associated with all types of polygonal content – of the Voxel type – that use blockchain technology.

The advantage of the VoxEdit editor is that users can create absolutely anything they can think of, be it people, tools for the game, monsters, or architectural structures. These objects can then be animated and converted into NFTs to be exported to The Sandbox Marketplace, allowing users to easily sell their creations.

As you can see, it is a powerful tool that is being used even by large and renowned companies in the industry, such as Atari or Square Enix.

2. The Sandbox Marketplace

In this marketplace, users can buy, sell, and exchange their designs created with VoxEdit. The Sandbox Marketplace is a decentralized marketplace that supports Ethereum’s ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens. In this open market, players can sell unwanted assets or those created specifically for profit, so it is possible to find thousands of different assets with all kinds of designs, which users can filter by rarity, categories, and themes.

In addition to the above, the marketplace is also available for those users who wish to explore, discover, and acquire new assets to add to their LAND tokens in the metaverse of the game – more on this shortly.

3. The Sandbox metaverse

This is without a doubt, the most active component of the gaming ecosystem. In The Sandbox metaverse, players can design, buy, and own digital assets within their virtual properties.

In addition, in “Play” mode, players can explore LAND elements – the virtual plots owned by other users – and enjoy the game experiences created by other players and interact with other people in these activities.

This is very similar to what we can see in games like Decentraland, but The Sandbox ecosystem has the added benefit of the great flexibility provided by the simple but powerful VoxEdit editor to unleash creativity without limits.

What is Sandbox crypto used for?

Although there are several tokens within the universe of The Sandbox, there are two that are essential for the operation of the platform. These would be the SAND and LAND tokens.

SAND

This is the native token within The Sandbox platform. It is an ERC-20 token that has a maximum supply of 3 billion SAND. I’m speaking about a utility token that is used to perform different types of activities and transactions within the game ecosystem, such as:

• Play
• Modify avatars
• Buy LAND tokens
• Exchange assets on the marketplace

And it even grants its holders a governance power that allows users to propose and vote on different aspects related to the future of the platform through a system based on DAO.

SAND will also offer its holders the possibility of earning additional rewards by staking their token within the platform in addition to a percentage of the profits from in-game transactions made through SAND.

Staking SAND also increases the chances of finding GEMs and CATALYSTs tokens necessary to create ASSETS tokens with a high level of rarity.

Staking on the platform will be a feature offered in the future and there is no set date on when this will happen at this time. However, staking SAND is currently possible through liquidity pools on Uniswap.

Before staking in liquidity pools, first read my blog post, 4 Types of Yield Farming and is Yield Farming Halal?

Finally, the best part is that it’s possible to get SAND simply by participating in different types of activities within the game. Although it’s also possible to buy SAND on different reputable exchanges on the Web.

LAND

LAND is the other essential part of The Sandbox. I’m talking here about parcels of virtual terrain that are what form the playing field as such. Without LAND, users wouldn’t have a place to put their VoxEdit creations and not even a place to play.

LAND is an ERC-721 type NFT token that users can purchase to build their own games or virtual environments and combine them to create ESTATES and DISTRICTS, which are nothing more than combinations of two or more portions of LAND.

The LAND token allows users to monetize their creations, either by charging other players to visit them or to participate in their games. They can also earn SAND tokens by charging for the rental of their land to host virtual events and even earn money from renting advertising space.

There is currently a total of 166,464 portions of LAND in the game’s metaverse, and some can be purchased through public offerings from time to time. However, it is also possible to buy LAND from other players using the Marketplace or specialized NFTs sites, such as OpenSea.

I already mentioned that in addition to these tokens, the game has additional tokens required for certain activities within its metaverse. They are the following:

ASSETS

These are NFTs that users can create using the VoxEdit tool and then upload to the Marketplace for sale. These assets can be any type of object that users wish to create, including buildings, weapons, animals, or people, each generating a unique game experience for each user and situation.

GEM and CATALYST

GEM tokens are ERC-20 tokens that serve to define and improve the attributes of ASSETS tokens and that burn as they are used.

On the other hand, CATALYST are tokens of the ERC-20 type that are also used to generate spaces in which to place GEMS. That is, they serve to create spaces to improve our ASSETS by applying various GEMS that enhance specific properties of certain ASSETS.

Learn more about GEM and CATALYST tokens here.

Is The Sandbox halal?

Is The Sandbox halal? Yes, The Sandbox game would be considered halal. The Sandbox is a platform that allows the user to build or play games as well as buy, sell, and rent assets in what is called the metaverse, and this is not seen as haram. It is how the user utilizes the platform that will be seen as either halal, haram, or makruh.

However, when it comes to playing videogames, there is still a general consensus among scholars that even though it is permissible to play and/or earn money from videogames, it is not highly encouraged as there is a concern that by someone occupying their time in regular gameplay, this may lead them to neglect the rights of Allah, others, or even their self.

In addition to this, there are certain fatwas that discuss what income is permissible or not permissible to earn from playing sports or games.

See my previous article on Axie Infinity as I discuss this in more depth in that article – Axie Infinity Overview and is Axie Infinity halal?

As for SAND crypto, scholars who generally rule that cryptocurrency is halal would also consider SAND as halal and see it as a utility token. Scholars would normally classify SAND as an asset and not a currency.

Is The Sandbox a good investment?

As has happened with many similar games, recent announcements made by Facebook – now Meta – around the metaverse, have marked a turning point in the history and price of SAND, the cryptocurrency of The Sandbox.

Before the announcement, SAND hit an all-time high of $1.15 in August 2021, after trading at $0.05 for months until the end of January 2021, when it joined the bullish trend that most cryptocurrencies were following.

Although the rise to $1.15 was impressive, it was still in its infancy compared to the price reached in November, when it soared to $3 in a matter of days. After this event, the price of the cryptocurrency has continued to rise, rising above the $8 mark, and accumulating a market capitalization of around $5B.

Right now, this all makes perfect sense as more and more people are learning about cryptocurrencies and the metaverse, which is driving a huge adoption of existing platforms. However, Meta will undoubtedly be a huge competition for The Sandbox and other similar platforms.

Until the announcement of Meta’s metaverse, Decentraland was probably The Sandbox’s biggest rival. Both are games based on the metaverse, built around a cryptocurrency, and have an economy based on NFTs. However, The Sandbox allows its users to create almost anything with its innovative 3D editing software.

Although Decentraland has many more active users at the moment and has the attention of brands like Coca-Cola, The Sandbox also has the collaboration of some notable partners like Atari and Adidas, among others.

The opening of The Sandbox is approaching

Recently, the company behind the project, Animoca Brands, published a very important announcement on the Twitter profile of The Sandbox, where they reported on the opening date of the metaverse of this promising NFT game – November 29, 2021. After this, the price of the SAND token skyrocketed, as this announcement was a motivation for investors.

This is also due to the fact that the debut of the game will bring a series of rewards to the first 5,000 users who sign up to participate in the corresponding missions.

First place will get a reward of 1,000 SAND tokens, which at the time of publishing this blog post, would be valued at around $6k, plus three more prizes in the form of unique rarity NFTs.

In addition to all of this, many people also know about the collaboration between The Sandbox and SoftBank Group – a Japanese company that works with telecommunications and the internet – with the aim of financing the game’s metaverse, a fact that has also helped drive up the price of SAND tokens.

From all the above, it is easy to deduce that The Sandbox and its SAND token will continue to rise, at least as long as the hype for the metaverse lasts. But if this is as Mark Zuckerberg says, “the future,” then this is probably a good time to invest, considering that prices are still low.

As always, never invest what you cannot afford to lose, and always do your research before investing.

Conclusion

The Sandbox has joined the hype of the “Play-to-Earn” games and the metaverse ecosystem. The platform offers its users the possibility to earn money while they play and interact with the great variety of possibilities offered by their metaverse.

In addition, users can also create other games and experiences without the need for constant maintenance on the platform, which would allow them to earn additional passive income.

If we take into account the large number of users who play games like Minecraft or Roblox, it is very likely that The Sandbox, with its interesting incentives, will be able to further popularize all the ideas and technologies behind blockchain, cryptos, and the like.

It looks like on the horizon of Play-to-Earn games, a bright future can be glimpsed… What do you think?

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Yield farming is a concept that has gained great popularity in recent years in the DeFi world. It’s an investment strategy with which token holders seek to obtain excellent returns for their money, investing and participating in different DeFi platforms, always with the intention of finding any financial advantage that allows them to maximize profits.

Without a doubt, this is a form of investing that can generate excellent returns if done correctly and has quickly gained a lot of momentum for its application on many platforms within the crypto ecosystem.

But what are the 4 types of yield farming and is yield farming halal?

Generally speaking, the 4 types of yield farming are as follows: 1) Liquidity Pools, 2) Lending and Borrowing, 3) Staking (proof of stake), and 4) Holding for a Redistribution Fee. As for if yield farming is halal, not all types of yield farming would be considered halal. It depends on the type of yield farming you participate in.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the 4 types of yield farming and let’s see which type of yield farming would be considered halal and if any of the 4 types of yield farming would be considered haram.

What is yield farming?

Yield farming is a formula by which investors try to obtain profits from the storage of cryptocurrencies. With this investment method we have two key factors to consider:

1. Liquidity provider (LP) – A user who brings cryptocurrencies to the market
2. Liquidity reserve (LR) – A smart contract that validates and manages the funds provided by the LP

Basically, in yield farming, LPs obtain rewards in exchange for providing liquidity through their funds, something similar to the interest paid by banks to those who keep money in them for a certain period of time. But one main difference is that in Islam, it is haram to collect bank interest since it is derived from usury, but with yield farming, some types of yield farming are halal. We’ll touch on this more later in this blog post.

How does yield farming work?

In a yield farming system, investors transfer or deposit assets into a smart contract providing liquidity. In exchange for this, the system will offer them a benefit for the immobilization of these assets.

This can be done through specialized platforms that facilitate the whole process, usually on Ethereum ERC-20 tokens, but since there is no single model or a single system to apply this formula, each platform usually applies its own rules, which can be modified from time to time.

What are the 4 types of yield farming?

Here is a list of the main methods of yield farming that you can find in the market. Of course, it is also possible to find some variations of these methods, but in general, they’re as follows:

1. Liquidity pools

A liquidity pool is perhaps the most common form of yield farming. As I already explained, this works with a smart contract that blocks tokens to ensure liquidity on a decentralized exchange platform. The users who provide these tokens are called liquidity providers.

The liquidity pool will hold two tokens in a smart contract to form a trading pair. Suppose there are tokens “A” and tokens “B”. Suppose also that the price of A can be equal to 100 B.

LPs must contribute the same value of A and B to the pool so that someone who deposits an A token will also have to add 100 B to the same contract. So when someone wants to exchange A for B, they can do it based on the funds deposited in the contract, instead of waiting for another user to appear who wants to do the opposite operation – as happens in crypto exchanges.

LPs are then incentivized for their contribution with different types of rewards, which usually are native tokens of the platform that provides the service.

What are the risks of liquidity pools?

Although this activity can be very profitable, it’s important to be aware of the risk of impermanent loss (IL). This means temporary losses of funds due to the high volatility of the trading pair; the higher the volatility, the higher the IL risk.

In this case, the losses are for less money at the time of withdrawal, which means that a liquidity provider can end up with a greater amount of the B token and slightly less of the A token or vice versa. However, IL can be compensated by trade commissions and other additional rewards earned by LPs.

2. Lending and borrowing

The idea behind a lending and borrowing mechanism is very simple: lenders provide funds to borrowers in exchange for a regular interest rate.

In the crypto world, lending and borrowing are carried out through different types of platforms that can be centralized or decentralized.

If we take this to the world of DeFi, both providers and borrowers interact in fully decentralized platforms in which they have total control over their money, thanks to the use of smart contracts that operate mainly on the Ethereum network.

The way this works is very simple: user X sends a certain amount of funds to a lending platform using a smart contract, which will then provide them with earnings in the form of interest, usually in the platform’s native token.

Such a smart contract then becomes a kind of intermediary available to other users of the platform who want to apply for a loan – the money contained in the smart contract. Subsequently, lenders can withdraw their earnings from the platform from time to time in the form of interest in native tokens.

As a general rule, for a user to be able to request a loan in native tokens, he must previously deposit in the form of a guarantee, an amount in another cryptocurrency, equal to or greater than the amount of the loan that he’s going to request.

What are the risks of lending and borrowing?

Although this financial activity is usually quite safe in the DeFi context, there are also a couple of aspects that need to be considered.

First, there is always the possibility that the smart contract used for the operation receives some type of manipulation. This is more likely in the cases of smart contracts provided by third parties.

On the other hand, borrowing APYs on some cryptocurrencies could suddenly go up for some reason, which could lead to the most careless users ending up paying more than expected.

3. Staking (proof of stake)

Staking within the universe of cryptocurrencies involves keeping a certain amount of funds in a wallet in order to obtain yield for keeping this crypto locked up or “staked” on a blockchain.

This action of holding funds in a crypto wallet, also known as staking, serves to support the security and operations of a blockchain network by validating transactions on the network. In return, they are able to generate yield, or rather, earn cryptocurrency, for providing such a service to the network.

This consensus system is known as Proof of Stake (PoS) and is based on the fact that to obtain consensus, users must demonstrate possession of the indicated funds.

The idea is that users block cryptos and from time to time, the network randomly assigns the right to one of them to validate the next block, the probability of being chosen is directly proportional to the amount of frozen funds held on the network.

In this system and unlike what happens in other consensus mechanisms – such as PoW in Bitcoin – the users who act as validators, don’t compete with each other using the computing power of their equipment, but instead, put up a share of assets to certify that they’ll validate transactions in an honest way.

What are the risks of staking?

In the case of staking, you have to consider the risk of keeping a high amount of funds locked on a blockchain for a long period of time. Remember that there can always be attacks on these platforms that end in the partial or total loss of the funds held, something that has already happened on many occasions.

In addition, in some cases, these funds are placed in the hands of third parties, which implies a risk if there is an internal theft attempt on the platform.

4. Holding for a redistribution fee

Some decentralized exchanges facilitate the buying and selling of different crypto assets between users, but they do so through a model called automated market making (AMM).

Users can add their inactive tokens to the liquidity pools available on the platform and earn passive income according to their contribution and at the same time, other members can exchange tokens from these liquidity pools – the profits go to the community of users.

In the case of SushiSwap for example, anyone can provide liquidity through its internal app. When they do, they’ll receive SLP tokens (SushiSwap Liquidity Provider tokens). For example, for a $SUSHI and $ETH pair, the user would receive SUSHI-ETH SLP tokens.

Any user can create a new liquidity pool simply by providing a new pair, and it’ll be the proportion of tokens that the user adds, which will set the price of this new liquidity pool.

Afterward, other users can trade any ERC-20 token and when transacting on SushiSwap Exchange, a fee of 0.3% will be charged and 0.25% of this trade will go back to the users that make up the LP group.

In exchange for maintaining liquidity in these groups, LPs are rewarded with these fees, in addition to a portion of the SUSHI minted daily on the platform. The best part is that users can claim their funds at any time.

What are the risks of holding?

As with any liquidity pool, there is a risk of suffering losses due to IL, but also that the borrowing APY goes up in price or that the platform suffers from theft of funds.

BONUS

5. Hodling

The term “hodling”, also known as “hold on for dear life” in the crypto world, is used to define those who simply hold onto their cryptocurrency as a long-term investment strategy without worrying about the rise and fall in the price of tokens.

This is not a form of yield farming in its most pure essence, but you can also see it that way for your convenience – especially if you don’t have experience with crypto finances.

Hodling is a strategy used by people who don’t have the skills or the time to perform other types of operations, so these people invest in well-established projects for long-term investment.

The objective of hodlers is that, over time, the value of the selected cryptocurrency will increase, so the most common strategy is to invest in the purchase of relatively new cryptocurrencies with very low prices so that, as the value of these assets increases, they can, insha’Allah, make a good profit on such an investment.

This form of “yield farming” has proven to be one of the strategies that has worked best for Bitcoin users.

For example, if you had invested $1,000 to acquire 1,000 BTC when the price was at $1 during 2011, at the time of publishing this blog post, you would have approximately $60 million in a period of only 10 years!

What are the risks of hodling?

HODLing won’t increase the number of cryptocurrencies you have in your hands. This means that you will only make a profit if the cryptocurrency increases in price in the long term. But remember that the opposite could also happen, with which you would lose money instead of increasing.

Is Yield Farming halal?

Is yield farming halal? When it comes to yield farming, staking, as in Proof of Stake, is generally considered halal, while the other 3 types of yield farming, liquidity pools, lending and borrowing, and yield from redistribution fees would be considered questionable or even haram.

Proof of Stake is generally considered halal as you are earning yield for providing security to the network. This is obviously assuming that the network itself is not dedicated or established for some haram type of activity.

Earning yield from liquidity pools could be halal so long as the pool itself is not being used for haram operations such as loaning money to others to earn interest on the loan. Muslims should strive to not purposely put themselves in situations where they are directly contributing to what is known to be haram.

When it comes to earning yield from lending and borrowing, many scholars would say that this is haram as the objective of most DeFi projects is to establish lending and borrowing contracts that will allow the lender to earn money from interest. However, this may change if lending and borrowing contracts are established under Islamic finance investment tools such as “Murabaha” or other sharia compliant guidelines.

And as for earning yield from redistribution fees, this could also be seen as halal since you are providing a service to the platform so long as the purpose of the platform or DEX is not a lending pool where the goal is to earn interest off of loaning money by way of crypto.

All of this is said by making the assumption that the cryptocurrency you are using for yield farming is already seen as halal by scholars.

Final words

We have now explored the most common types of yield farming strategies, acknowledging that there are many variations in them. If your intention is to enter the world of yield farming, you should first familiarize yourself with the operation of the different platforms that offer this form of investment making sure that they are in harmony with Islamic principles.

Take into account that if you don’t understand what you are doing, you’ll probably lose money. Remember that the most profitable yield farming strategies are also the most complex ones and are recommended for advanced users.

It is not just about buying crypto when Elon Musk makes a comment that boosts its price, but there is a whole range of possibilities to earn much more money out there in a halal way. You just have to be well prepared and do your research.

May Allah guide you to success, Ameen.

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If you regularly read about cryptocurrencies, you probably know something about the Cardano vs Ethereum debate.

The debate to decide which of the two blockchains is better started with the beginning of the Cardano project back in 2017 and since then, more and more fuel has been added to the fire.

Although both blockchains are very similar in terms of functionality, a growing group of crypto enthusiasts claim that Cardano is superior and that it’ll be the ultimate “Ethereum killer”.

But, is Cardano better than Ethereum?

In terms of technical infrastructure, yes. Cardano is better than Ethereum in matters of limited coin supply, scalability, PoS consensus, and a “no-code” smart contract language that makes it easy for non-coders to create smart contracts. But at present, Ethereum’s strength is due to its first-mover advantage, a huge user base, and a blockchain that has massive value.

But is this all to the story? Let’s dive in a little deeper to see if Cardano is really better than Ethereum.

What are the reasons behind these claims?

Cardano vs Ethereum: the battle of blockchains

The reality is that Cardano has managed to position itself in the crypto world as a strong competitor and alternative to Ethereum. These two platforms offer an entire ecosystem for the development and execution of smart contracts and DApps, as well as an alternative to traditional financial systems — something similar to Bitcoin.

On the one hand, Ethereum with its consensus mechanism Proof of Work (PoW), gives an economic value to its cryptocurrency Ether through a series of complex mathematical calculations, although paying the price of high energy consumption and suffering a series of problems related to scalability.

On the other hand, Cardano with its consensus mechanism Proof of Stake (PoS), manages to solve the problems inherent to PoW, requiring much less energy and resources to function, while allowing faster and cheaper transactions in comparison through its cryptocurrency ADA.

Scalability, interoperability, functionality, and economic performance are the key factors that will make the difference between one blockchain and the other at the time of truth.

Let’s now take a closer look at each of these factors to determine which project is most likely to win the next third-generation blockchain battle.

How Cardano compares to Ethereum

1. Scalability

Cardano

Although Cardano’s network is currently capable of processing a maximum of 250 transactions per second (tps), it’s expected that in future updates the network will be capable of processing up to 5,000 tps.

To achieve this, Cardano’s network will make use of a protocol called KMZ Sidechains, which will allow it to run several chains parallel to the main chain to alleviate the workload.

A good example of this is the recently implemented Hydra protocol, a Layer 2 solution that will run DApps in parallel with Cardano’s Layer 1 to provide extra scalability and cheaper fees per transaction. Cardano can add as many side chains – Hydra’s heads – as it requires to keep the desired overall performance on the network.

This, combined with the consensus mechanism Ouroboros – based on PoS – will allow the network to achieve high levels of scalability and grow without experiencing bottlenecks.

Ethereum

The current version of Ethereum can only handle a maximum of 30 tps using the PoW consensus mechanism. This has resulted in the network being congested quite frequently and transaction costs skyrocketing – not to mention a high consumption of energy and resources.

However, it’s expected that when the Ethereum network is updated to version 2.0 and thanks to the change of consensus mechanism from PoW to PoS, the number of tps will increase exponentially to a theoretical max of 100,000 while decreasing the cost of transactions significantly.

2. Interoperability

Cardano

Cardano supports interoperability with other blockchains using communication protocols that will allow other blockchains to run parallel to the main chain – one of these is KMZ. This feature is already working and it’ll allow the Cardano network to expand its functionality by adding features from other networks.

The protocols implemented in Cardano to achieve interoperability will ensure the communication and exchange of data in a secure way between chains without compromising the stability of the main network, being able to connect and disconnect any external network as necessary.

Ethereum

For its part, although Ethereum doesn’t currently have this ability to communicate with other networks, there are already several external projects that will allow adding this feature once version 2.0 is fully functional.

When the time comes, Ethereum will be more open to communication and interaction with other networks, allowing the exchange of data and values ​​in a secure and private way. Some of the top projects in this area are Chainlink, Wachain, and Aion, just to name a few.

3. Smart contracts and DApps

Cardano

Currently, Cardano already allows the development and execution of smart contracts and DApps; however, this most recent update had presented concurrency issues when executing smart contracts on the blockchain. In addition to this, it’s still lacking a well-developed ecosystem in terms of DApps.

On the other hand, the mechanism used in Cardano for the development of both smart contracts and DApps will make the technical aspect more accessible – through the Marlowe programming language – so that any type of user is able to create smart contracts and applications, as well as make it easier for the interaction of these programs with others inside and outside the network.

And while Cardano may be lacking a well-developed DApp ecosystem, insha’Allah this will soon change as there are multiple DApps in the works for Cardano. Building on Cardano is an excellent website to see projects being developed for the Cardano blockchain.

Additionally, Cardano has recently added a new feature called ERC-20 converter, a software tool to help developers migrate ERC-20 tokens to Cardano to avoid paying high gas fees and the lack of speed in transactions. Actually, at least 100 projects are expected to migrate as soon as the tool goes mainnet.

Ethereum

Ethereum is currently the pioneer and world leader of blockchains in terms of smart contracts and DApps. Since its inception in 2015, Ethereum hasn’t stopped growing in this sense, and the use of smart contracts and DApps has become popular in other blockchains thanks to this.

At this time, Ethereum already has more than 3,000 decentralized applications that work mainly in the DeFi and NFT spaces, but that also include games and tools of all kinds.

Thanks to the use of standardized types of tokens (ERC-20 and ERC 721), Ethereum has managed to build a huge and robust ecosystem in which communication and interaction between the different projects developed within the network are possible.

4. Tokenomics

Cardano

Since its introduction to the market in 2017, ADA has been gaining more and more acceptance among investors. Even though Cardano is still in development, each new major update seems to positively influence the price of this cryptocurrency, returning more than 7,000% since its introduction to the market.

This is reflected in its market capitalization ($62B) and its current price ($1.95), factors that have maintained a relatively slow but constant increase over time.

We should also consider that this cryptocurrency has a maximum supply of 45B units. This abundance of coins is one of the factors that contribute to keeping the price of ADA low.

However, the inflationary mechanism of ADA, added to the progressive decrease in the supply of currencies to the market as well as other factors and new developments on the blockchain, will contribute to the price of this asset increasing over the years insha’Allah.

Ethereum

Being Ethereum, the leading blockchain in the sector of smart contracts and decentralized applications, it’s normal that, even with the high fees, this network remains with the second largest market capitalization ($510B), only below Bitcoin.

In a similar way to what has happened with ADA, the price of Ether has been increasingly influenced by the advances in future updates of the network and as the date of ETH 2.0 approaches, it seems that the price of Ether tends to go up, already passing $4,000.

At this point, it’s important to point out that Ethereum has an unlimited supply of coins, with an increased supply programmed to an annual inflation rate of 4.5%. This is countered by the new EIP-1559 “London” update that burns a portion of the transaction fees thus decreasing the coin supply. This could lead to an increase in price in the future; something investors are looking forward to.

Due to this fact, it’s not surprising that there is an increasing demand for Ether in the market, something that is also boosted by the current NFT fever, where Ethereum plays a predominant role.

Cardano vs Ethereum: a fierce and close battle

To determine which of the two blockchains is – or will be – the winner of this battle, there is a key factor to consider: which of the two blockchains will offer more value, Cardano or Ethereum?

One of the main problems that Ethereum faces today has to do with scalability and the high cost of transactions, a problem for which Cardano has presented a solution from the beginning. While it’s true that the issue of scalability in Ethereum should be solved in version 2.0 when sharding is implemented, we will still have to wait until 2022 or 2023 to see this.

Currently, ADA has extremely low fees (close to 0.17 ADA), something that gives it a lot of stability. The problem is that Cardano doesn’t have a user base like Ethereum to take advantage of this – although I do believe this will eventually happen insha’Allah.

In addition, there is another factor that works against both projects, and it is the fact that neither of the two blockchains is fully operational.

Now, speaking in technical terms, at this time Cardano would have the advantage since this project is being developed using a scientific methodology, it’s peer-reviewed, and also very easy to audit thanks to the use of Haskell. Meanwhile, due to the use of its Solidity programming language, audits on Ethereum are much more difficult to perform.

Cardano also has a double processing layer to work with two process flows separately; computations are made on layer 1, and settlements are made on layer 2. Ethereum only uses one layer to run all processes, which is inefficient.

In terms of power consumption, Cardano is much more efficient than Ethereum due to the use of PoS, but the latter network should solve that problem by moving to version 2.0.

In economic terms, at the moment Ether has more value than ADA, naturally due to the advantage of being out first and having the effects of a large network of users and a well-developed software ecosystem. However, keep in mind that the supply of ADA is limited and this could give a strong boost to price increase in the near future. Of course, this will also depend on the offer of functions.

Final verdict

My personal opinion is that there is space in the crypto ecosystem for both platforms to coexist, at least for a few years.

The reality is that it’s impossible to predict whether one blockchain will end up wiping the other off the map since both projects are moving in practically the same direction.

Once both blockchains are fully functional and PoS becomes the new norm, eliminating problems related to energy consumption, scalability, and high fees, the preference of users for one or the other network will depend on the creativity of developers – something similar to what happens with videogame platforms.

This means that healthy competition will motivate the creation of more and better DApps, as well as the constant implementation of improvements to each network. If we add to this the new projects that are preparing to also compete with Ethereum, we will have many more options to choose from very soon.

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Even with all the global problems related to technology — component shortages, bans, hacks, and more — the crypto market continues its unstoppable advance, providing new opportunities for those who are able to see them.

While nothing seems to move Satoshi Nakamoto’s first-born daughter from its top spot in the cryptocurrency rankings, it seems like a whole army of new projects is trying to topple Ethereum from its well-earned second place.

Currently, Solana is one of the most solid projects that are seeking to replace Vitalik Buterin’s blockchain, not in vain, it has earned the nickname of “Ethereum killer.”

But is Solana better than Ethereum as many experts claim?

Let’s analyze the panorama…

Solana vs Ethereum – The Current situation

Solana is an open-source blockchain project that aims to provide a robust, fast, and scalable platform for the development and execution of next-generation DApps that surpasses anything seen so far.

Solana has been developed from scratch using a new consensus algorithm called Proof of History (PoH) that promises to increase the speed and scalability of the network to new levels, potentially being able to process tens of thousands of transactions per second (tps).

In addition, Solana has its own cryptocurrency called SOL, which in 2020 was still valued for less than $10, but in recent months it has seen its price skyrocket, staying close to $200 at the time of this blog posting, with a market capitalization of $406B, according to CoinMarketCap.

Solana has managed to build in a very short time — remember that it was founded in 2017 — a robust ecosystem with a good number of developers giving their support to the project with their DApps, but especially in the NFTs segment.

And what about Ethereum?

Ethereum, the super-popular decentralized open-source platform for programming smart contracts and DApps, has held its position, gaining and gaining value even with the technical problems it faces today.

Still, thousands of developers around the world continue creating smart contracts and DApps on Ethereum and invent new types of solutions, many of which are used by large companies and organizations around the world.

Meanwhile, its cryptocurrency Ether, the “fuel” for operations within the network, hasn’t stopped increasing its value, slowly but firmly, although still staying a long way from the almighty Bitcoin.

With that said, it’s now the time to see in more detail, the position of each project based on several factors that I consider critical for a modern blockchain.

How Solana compares to Ethereum

1. Scalability

Solana

Solana is a blockchain that makes use of the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm to improve efficiency when processing transactions on the network. This already means a significant saving of resources, both in hardware, as well as in time and energy. But in addition, Solana adds a support algorithm developed specifically for this network and which has been called Proof of History (PoH).

In simple words, what this algorithm does is allow network validators to process transactions as they’re generated, without having to wait for a block to complete.

This simple mechanism allows a greater number of transactions per second to be processed simultaneously, being able in theory to process up to 50,000 tps or more under certain conditions, at the same time that it manages to maintain very low fees with an average price of $0.00025.

Ethereum

For its part, Ethereum currently uses the Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm, the same one used by Bitcoin and which requires a large amount of energy and resources to function.

This system only allows the Ethereum network to process a maximum of 30 tps, which, added to the huge user base of the network and the large number of transactions that take place every day, results in the network becoming frequently congested, also increasing the price of the fees, which in many cases reach hundreds of dollars for a single transaction.

However, the next major Ethereum update, 2.0, will focus on migrating the network from PoW to PoS, which will theoretically increase the number of transactions from 30 tps, up to 100,000 tps.

2. Interoperability

Solana

The development team behind Solana is already working on implementing the Wormhole protocol in its network in collaboration with the company Certus One. Wormhole will act as a communication bridge so that Solana can interact with other networks, but in some first tests, it’ll allow communication with the Ethereum network.

Subsequently, new bridges will be added to the Solana network to enable communication with other blockchains and to be able to carry out asset movements seamlessly and in a fast and efficient way.

Ethereum

Currently, Ethereum doesn’t have its own project to achieve interoperability with other networks, but there are already several third-party projects that are offering to add this functionality to the network, something key for its future growth.

Some of these projects include:

• Chainlink – An interoperability solution especially useful for projects that need to access data from other networks without directly interacting with them.

• Wanchain – A project that will make communication between both public and private blockchains possible through a secure and private system for the exchange of value and data called T-Bridge.

• Aion – A communication system between blockchain networks that will make use of Artificial Intelligence.

• Block Collider – A project that seeks to achieve interoperability between networks using a consensus algorithm called Proof of Distance (PoD) and that doesn’t require validators.

Just to name a few.

3. Smart contracts and DApps

Solana

Solana has a protocol called Sealevel that gives it the ability to create and execute multitasking smart contracts in parallel with the rest of the transactions on the network. This is one of the key features that will allow it to achieve greater scalability.

In addition to this, the Solana network has managed to build, since its foundation in 2017, a robust DApps ecosystem that currently already has nearly 500 projects in its network.

Ethereum

In this regard, there is no doubt that Ethereum is the world’s leading network for blockchain-based solutions. In this sense, the Ethereum network already has more than 3,000 fully functional DApps in all kinds of categories, especially in DeFi and more recently, in the NFT segment.

All this is possible thanks to the use of its standard ERC-20 and ERC 721 tokens, which allow interoperability between different DApps within its network.

4. Tokenomics

Solana

Despite being founded in 2017, Solana already has a market capitalization close to $50B, thus placing its SOL token among the most important cryptocurrencies in the world.

SOL has a maximum supply of 489 million coins, and its market value is close to $200, a significant increase considering that in 2020 it was valued at just $2.

However, it’s important to note that due to certain inflationary elements established by the developers, the price of the cryptocurrency will tend to be somewhat more volatile than other similar assets, with a downward trend in the future.

Ethereum

The problems that Ethereum faces at the moment are scalability and transaction costs, This is one of the factors that have kept its price at bay.

Even so, in the last 12 months, the price of Ether has increased significantly, mainly due to progress in the development of its future updates, already hovering around $3,500 at the time of publishing this blog, with a market capitalization of +$400B.

It is precisely this last factor that is helping to create pressure on the price of Ethereum, both in supply and demand, which added to the great support it has, is attracting more investors to the platform.

Which is better, Solana or Ethereum?

Although Ethereum currently has significant limitations in terms of scalability and transaction costs, this has not prevented the network from continuing to grow at a sustained rate. The platform already has 7,000 nodes and 90,000 validators.

However, this is also due to the use of the PoW consensus algorithm, something that will change shortly when PoS is implemented.

When that time comes, Ethereum is supposed to be capable of processing around 100,000 tps, which is pretty good compared to Solana’s current capacity, which is around 50,000 tps – but could theoretically go up to 500,000 tps.

For its part, although Solana only has about 600 nodes and about 1,000 validators, interest in the network hasn’t stopped growing, especially if we consider that it’s still under development.

The same must be said when thinking about DApps. Solana owns just close to 500, while Ethereum owns 3,000. Still, Solana’s growth has been remarkable in this regard.

While Solana is technically superior, Ethereum has the advantage of being on the market first, so it has a strongly established community and ecosystem that help revalue the network.

Solana is unlikely to replace Ethereum, especially since the development team of Ethereum is not going to be left behind when it comes to implementing improvements that will help it better face its competitors.

Of course, it’s a fact that when Solana is 100% functional, many people will migrate from one network to another, but probably not at a rate that will remove Ethereum from its second place in the cryptocurrency rankings.

I believe that in the future, there will be a fierce war between these two blockchains, especially in the DApps and NFTs sector, but I also believe that there is enough space for both projects to coexist. In other words, both Solana and Ethereum will have their own niche.

And in the end, Allah knows best.

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Cryptocurrency mining, and especially Bitcoin mining, is a very attractive activity for many crypto enthusiasts. The possibility of obtaining rewards in the form of some coin with a high value in the market is an incentive for which even large companies and governments are after.

The problem is that, in the case of Bitcoin and some other crypto, mining is no longer within the reach of the common user, since this requires quite expensive special hardware that not everyone can afford, or obtain due to supply shortages. However, there is still a whole universe of altcoins whose mining process is possible using ordinary equipment, like the ones you and I have at home.

In its basic form, all you need to mine altcoins is a PC or phone, an internet connection, and special software, so if you’re thinking of getting into cryptocurrency mining, this is a good guide to get started.

So let’s take a look at the 10 Best Crypto You Can Mine with CPU and GPU today.

1. Ethereum

The Ethereum (ETH) network is currently a Proof of Work (PoW) blockchain which, although it’ll soon become a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain, still requires miners to work to obtain rewards.

What you need to mine Ethereum

Today, you can no longer mine ETH using only your CPU, so you’ll need to make use of GPUs. With a configuration with consumer graphics cards – preferably AMD or Nvidia – you can get good results when mining from home. You’ll also need to download a mining program like Geth, EthOS, or Claymore.

Ease of mining

ETH mining can be quite heavy if you don’t have enough computing power, as the network is very active and there are many transactions being processed.

Brief guide on Ethereum mining

The first thing you need to do is set up an Ethereum wallet to store the cryptographic keys that will allow you access to your crypto assets.

The next step would be to join a mining pool, which is necessary as mining has become complex and requires large amounts of hashing power. Some of the most popular pools today are Nanopool and Ethermine.

Another interesting option is cloud mining. In this case, a large mining farm rents computing power to interested people in exchange for a monthly fee, so they can mine cryptocurrencies without the need for special hardware.

The main disadvantage of this method is that most of these services tend to be scams, so you’ll have to do your research and be very careful in this case.

Please see my past blog post, 3 Reasons Why You Should Not Cloud Mine.

Is it profitable to mine Ethereum?

Ethereum mining is still profitable, but it also depends on several factors.

A rule that applies to basically all cryptocurrencies is that you must take into account the initial amount of the investment, in addition to the costs of the mining and electricity platform, especially the latter, since this is what will help you the most to determine if it’s profitable and after how long.

Fortunately, there are online calculators that can help you in calculating these costs.

What you can do with your coins

You have two options: sell ETH for an immediate profit or store it in a wallet as a long-term investment. In both cases, insha’Allah, you don’t have to worry, since ETH is the second most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, so it’s widely accepted in many exchanges and online stores.

2. Ethereum Classic

As with Ethereum, Ethereum Classic (ETC) is a platform for the operation of smart contracts and dApps, with the goal of adhering to the principles of decentralization as much as possible.

What you need to mine Ethereum Classic

To mine ETC you need almost the same software and hardware as for ETH. Although in the case of ETC, the requirements are somewhat lower, since Ethereum Classic allows a greater share of the ETC market using GPUs of up to 3 and 4 GB.

Ease of mining

Mining ETC is fairly easy nowadays as the Ethereum Classic network is not as overloaded as Ethereum due to the lower transaction volume.

Brief guide on Ethereum Classic mining

Since with Ethereum Classic the hardware requirements are lower, mining alone is more feasible. Of course, you can always resort to a mining pool. Once you have your wallet, mining software, and graphics card configured, you only have to start mining.

Is it profitable to mine Ethereum?

The difficulty of mining and the hashrate of ETC is still very accessible, and if you live in a region where the cost of electricity consumption is cheap (about $0.10 KWH), mining ETC can be very profitable.

What you can do with your coins

As with Ethereum, you can use your ETC for trading or purchases on a wide variety of exchanges and online stores.

3. Monero

Monero (XMR) has become a favorite of many investors and miners due to its excellent performance in recent years. Between 2017 and 2018 it went from $10 to $494, providing a profit of almost 5,000%, and it’s still very attractive today.

What you need to mine Monero

Fortunately, you don’t need to buy expensive ASIC equipment to mine Monero, as you can use your computer’s CPU/GPU.

Ease of mining

Anyone with a computer can mine Monero, as the mining process is quite simple. However, the more powerful your hardware, the better.

Brief guide on Monero mining

As we already mentioned, you can mine Monero using a GPU with enough power. You will also need to install the XMR Stak mining software, which is currently fairly easy to configure. Finally, you only have to join a mining pool, MineXMR, Nanopool, or Moneropool.

Is it profitable to mine Monero?

Currently, mining Monero is quite profitable, considering that you don’t need too powerful hardware. In addition, the algorithm that Monero uses today is quite efficient and consumes little electricity.

What you can do with your coins

You can trade Monero on a good variety of recognized exchanges, although it is best to use DEX-type exchanges. On top of that, around 200 businesses that operate online accept payments with Monero.

4. Dogecoin

Dogecoin (DOGE) is another cryptocurrency that you can mine using GPUs and CPUs. This coin was launched in 2013 as a joke, and it ended up becoming a very popular crypto – thanks Elon?

What you need to mine Dogecoin

You can mine Dogecoin with a CPU, though preferably not with your phone. Of course, the best option will always be to build a good rig with several GPUs, as long as your pocket allows it. Regarding software, EasyMiner is a good option.

Ease of mining

Although it’s still possible to mine Dogecoin alone, due to the increased difficulty that the network suffered in 2018, the most recommended at this time is to be part of a mining pool.

Brief guide on Dogecoin mining

Mining Dogecoin is as easy as setting up your Doge wallet, joining a mining pool like Prohashing, Antpool, or Poolin, and start mining.

Is it profitable to mine Dogecoin?

2021 saw great growth in the price of Doge, standing in March at 0.056 with a reward of 10,000 for each new block in the network, with which you would be earning $560, not bad.

What you can do with your coins

Currently, and thanks to the popularity that Doge has gained in the crypto world, more and more online businesses and exchanges are accepting this cryptocurrency. You can even use the BitPay card for purchases at Mastercard points.

5. ZCash

ZCash (ZEC) uses the Equihash algorithm to process transactions, secure the network, and of course, generate new coins during the mining process. For miners, this reward consists of 3.125 ZEC per block, which is quite attractive considering the ZEC price in the market.

What you need to mine ZCash

To be able to mine ZCash, you need to use Nvidia or AMD GPUs, as CPU mining is not profitable. Mining alone is not recommended either, so it’s a better idea to join a pool, such as F2Pool or Poolin. Regarding software, EWBF Cuda and Optiminer are good options.

Ease of mining

Due to the increasing difficulty of the network, ZEC mining has become somewhat complicated on its own, although not as much as other cryptos. Mining a ZEC would take you more than 20 days with powerful equipment.

Brief guide on ZCash mining

To start with ZCash mining, you’ll only have to install and configure your GPUs, download a ZCash wallet software, install a ZCash mining program – like EWBF – and join a ZCash mining pool.

Is it profitable to mine ZCash?

Yes, Zcash mining can be profitable if you consider a mining hashrate of 140,000.00 H/s, + electricity costs, and pool fees.

What you can do with your coins

With ZCash you can pay directly at dozens of online businesses, either with your mobile phone or anywhere Visa is accepted.

6. Ravencoin

Ravencoin (RVN) is a cryptocurrency that resulted from an open-source project born from a Bitcoin hardfork, and that has become an excellent option for mining.

What you need to mine Ravencoin

This cryptocurrency has an algorithm resistant to ASIC equipment, so you can mine it with no problems using a rig with several GPUs, either alone or in a mining pool.

Ease of mining

Ravencoin is much easier to mine than other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin since its algorithm – KaWPoW – requires less computational power.

Brief guide on Ravencoin mining

To start mining RVN, you just have to build your rig with enough GPUs, download the corresponding mining software – KawPoWminer, TeamRedMiner, or Gminer – and configure your wallet to receive your rewards. You can perform this process alone or in a mining pool.

Is it profitable to mine Ravencoin?

Each miner earns up to 5K RVN for each block added to the chain. With a rig armed with at least three GPUs at 72MH/s, you can mine one RVN every 0.021 days, which is equivalent to one block every three months. If you want to do it faster, you’ll need to add more GPUs.

What you can do with your coins

Ravencoin is still a cryptocurrency with a low level of global acceptance, but this is changing gradually for the better.

7. Grin

Grin (GRIN) is a cryptocurrency born in 2019 focused on maintaining the privacy, efficiency, and scalability of transactions within its blockchain. The project has been gaining a good following since its inception.

What you need to mine Grin

Grin has the peculiarity that it has two PoW algorithms for its operation. One of them allows mining through the use of high-performance GPUs, and the other is specific for ASIC equipment.

Ease of mining

Due to the aforementioned Grin features, added to how recent the project is, the mining of this cryptocurrency still presents an accessible difficulty for a large number of users.

Brief guide on Grin mining

You can participate in Grin mining using a GPU rig with at least 8 cards with enough power. You can do it alone or be part of a mining pool. You just need to configure your rig and download the appropriate software, such as Gminer or Lolminer.

Is it profitable to mine Grin?

Many people using a GPU configuration similar to the one mentioned above, manage to get around $200 a month throughput.

What you can do with your coins

Grin is still a very recent project and therefore it doesn’t yet have a high level of acceptance compared to other currencies, but it’s possible to trade it on some exchanges such as Hotbit, Gate.io, and others.

8. Beam

Like Grin, Beam (BEAM) is a cryptocurrency that uses the Mimblewimble protocol, which allows increasing privacy, scalability, and efficiency on the network. This crypto was created in 2019, and being ASIC resistant, it has become an attractive option for many users.

What you need to mine Beam

As it’s an ASIC resistant coin, you can only mine Beam using graphics cards of at least 4GB. CPU mining is not profitable.

Ease of mining

The mining difficulty in Beam will be increased every 4 years, as well as its reward decreased. But even so, it’ll be accessible through the use of GPUs.

Brief guide on Beam mining

As we have already mentioned, it’s perfectly possible to mine Beam alone, but there are also a good number of mining pools available to participate in if you want to increase your mining potential. Set up your equipment, mining software, and connect your wallet to get started.

Is it profitable to mine Beam?

At the time of writing this blog post, the price of Beam is around $0.50 and if we take into account its attractive features, in addition to its ease of mining, this is a crypto with a lot of potential.

What you can do with your coins

With each passing year, Beam gains more acceptance and presence on a greater number of exchanges, including some like Hotbit, and even Binance.

The bottom line

As you have seen, there are still a good number of crypto alternatives that don’t require a huge investment on the part of users and that can also provide excellent long-term benefits.

Remember that Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Monero were not worth much in their early days, but constant support from their communities made them what they are today.

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In 2017 I wrote a blog post called, Is Bitcoin Mining Halal or Haram?, and we came to the conclusion that at that time there was no consensus among scholars about whether mining Bitcoin is halal or haram. Rather, we stated that Bitcoin mining is halal because there was no obvious evidence to suggest that mining Bitcoin is haram.

However, years later, this question is still being asked by many so I figure it’s time for an update.

Is cryptocurrency mining halal or is Bitcoin mining halal? The simple answer is, yes. Bitcoin mining is halal. Bitcoin mining is nothing more than the act of verifying transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain by a Proof of Work protocol. Bitcoin miners who successfully verify transactions are providing a service to Bitcoin users as well as providing security to the Bitcoin network and they are rewarded Bitcoin for their effort and there is nothing haram with this.

Great! You have an answer to your question. But now you must be thinking, but what about those who say Bitcoin is haram and in addition to that also say, or imply, that Bitcoin mining is haram?

If this is your thought process, then please read on.

Is mining crypto haram?

In my previous blog post, Is Bitcoin Halal? 10 Scholars’ Opinion on Bitcoin, I noted that some scholars have said that all aspects of cryptocurrency are haram and this includes mining Bitcoin.

Two of the main reasons some scholars have said that crypto mining is haram are:

1. Bitcoin (or any cryptocurrency for that matter) is not backed by a government; therefore, all aspects of Bitcoin, including mining bitcoin, is haram since there is no government approval.
   
2. Bitcoin mining is resource intensive and uses too much energy which in turn is bad for the environemnt; therefore, Bitcoin mining is haram.

But how accurate are these two reasons as to why some scholars would rule Bitcoin mining as haram and can we say that the above-mentioned reasons are, reasonable?

Bitcoin backed by government

For those scholars who say that all aspects of Bitcoin are haram because Bitcoin has no government backing, they mean that governments do not recognize Bitcoin as currency, money, or legal tender; therefore, Bitcoin, and this includes Bitcoin mining, would be seen as haram.

However, over the past 10 years since Bitcoin has been around, more and more governments have changed or updated their laws allowing their citizens to participate in crypto markets with governments recognizing Bitcoin as either a currency, an asset, or even property.

2021 has also marked the first time that a country’s government has not only allowed the permissibility of Bitcoin use for its citizens, but it is the first time that a government has also recognized Bitcoin as legal tender. In other words, we finally have Bitcoin backed by a government.

In June of 2021, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador made history by passing a bill in the Salvadorian congress making it a law approving Bitcoin to be used as legal tender.

This now begs the question, since Bitcoin is backed by a government, El Salvador, is it then halal for Muslims in El Salvador to use Bitcoin? It seems that the answer would be, yes.

And what about mining Bitcoin? El Salvador has not only recognized Bitcoin as legal tender but the government will launch a Bitcoin mining initiative for the country as well. We’ll touch on that later in this blog post.

Now, are we saying that all countries recognize Bitcoin as legal tender or all countries approve the use of Bitcoin – and this includes Bitcoin mining – of course not. We know that China has just recently banned Bitcoin mining in their country.

Update: China has now banned ALL cryptocurrency activities.

Regardless of this, we are observing a growing acceptance by governments worldwide to explore the use of cryptocurrencies in their countries and/or allow their citizens to use cryptocurrencies even when there are no clear laws or guidelines in place or even if the government does not implement a law stating that Bitcoin is legal tender.

Bitcoin energy consumption

Another argument made by some scholars as to why Bitcoin mining is haram is because it is commonly stated that Bitcoin mining electricity consumption utilizes large amounts of energy to mine transactions and is therefore bad for the environment.

This has also been mentioned by our sheikh, Assim Al Hakeen, and I have touched on this in a blog post called, 10 Reasons Why Bitcoin is Haram. Sheikh Assim Al Hakeem Bitcoin Fatwa.

I have also been of the mindset that Bitcoin mining is resource-intensive and uses a high amount of energy to mine Bitcoin. However, the question that I failed to ask myself was, Bitcoin mining is resource-intensive compared to what?

When comparing Bitcoin mining to the energy consumption of the banking and gold industry, two industries that Bitcoin is regularly compared with, then we begin to see a different story.

Galaxy Digital has released a report called, On Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption: A Quantitative Approach to a Subjective Question, which states that Bitcoin mining uses less than half the energy of what is used in the banking or gold industry.

The chart below shows that the banking industry uses around 263.72 TWh per year and the gold industry uses about 240.61 TWh per year and Bitcoin uses less than half the energy of both of these industries, 113.89 TWh per year.

So, is Bitcoin mining resource-intensive? Does Bitcoin mining use a lot of energy? The answer is, yes. But so are other industries that are a mainstay of human life – the banking and gold industry. As we stated, annually, they both consume more energy than Bitcoin.

So if the argument is that Bitcoin mining is haram because it is resource-intensive and not environmentally friendly, then the same argument must be made for the banking and gold industries.

So what are possible solutions? Are there alternatives as to how we can mine or verify Bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions in a manner that is environmentally friendly?

The answer to that is, yes. We are now seeing cryptocurrencies such as Cardano, Dash, and Ethereum already utilize or plan to move to a Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol which utilizes less energy consumption than a Proof of Work (PoW) protocol.

Cardano claims that their PoS protocol utilizes 6 gigawatt-hours of energy annually which is far less than Bitcoin. Now, will we see Bitcoin move to a PoS protocol? I doubt it, as many Bitcoin advocates hold the belief that Proof of Work is the most robust and secure way to secure the network and do not want to see that change, but it could be that future cryptocurrencies will put their focus on PoS rather than PoW to address environmental concerns.

In addition to moving to Proof of Stake, another solution would be to utilize renewable or clean energy for mining cryptocurrencies.

Remember how we noted that El Salvador has also launched a Bitcoin mining initiative? Well, the El Salvadorian government is planning to utilize their geothermal resources, volcanic energy, to mine Bitcoin thus making Bitcoin mining environmentally friendly by utilizing renewable and clean energy.

So, do we finally have Bitcoin that is backed by a government? Yes.

Do we have Bitcoin being mined by clean energy or do we have cryptocurrencies moving to a more environmentally friendly way of verifying transactions by protocols such as Proof of Stake? Again, yes.

Since this is the case, then I foresee scholars changing their opinions on their ruling of Bitcoin and not making such blanket statements.

Muslim countries and cryptocurrency mining

Now you may be saying, well, that all sounds great for El Salvador, but what about Muslims in Muslim countries? Is cryptocurrency mining halal in Muslim countries?

Well, I have another blog post called, Muslim Countries Where Bitcoin Is Legal Or Illegal, where you will not only see a list of Muslim countries and their legal stance on Bitcoin but you will also see that some of the countries highlight cryptocurrency mining initiatives that are underway in their respected countries.

Pakistan is one of those countries. Pakistan has launched a cryptocurrency mining initiative for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to build Bitcoin mining farms with the hopes of opening up their mining farms to investors in the future.

Kazakhstan has also been taking lead in the Muslim world when it comes to having government-backed cryptocurrency mining initiatives and has already produced a number of cryptocurrency mining farms.

In an article by Aizhan Abilgazina, A New Kind of Mining: Kazakhstan Stakes Its Claim in the Cryptocurrency Industry, Aizhan states,

Kazakhstan has seen a significant growth in cryptocurrency mining activities with around $200 million having been already invested in 13 mining farms that are operational around the country with four more under construction.

By Aizhan Abilgazina

The Kazakhstan government also has plans to actively seek outside investors who are seeking cryptocurrency mining in their country.

Last month, Kazakhstan’s minister of digital development, innovation and aerospace industry, Askar Zhumagaliyev, announced that the department is planning to attract 300 billion tenge, or $738 million, worth of investments by 2023 for activities related to cryptocurrency mining.

Source – Asia Times

The only downside I see to cryptocurrency mining in Kazakhstan is that half of their energy consumption comes from coal and coal tends to be considered as “dirty energy”.

Conclusion

Again, we are seeing an evolution as to how governments, more specifically, Muslim governments, are interacting with cryptocurrency and the blanket argument that Bitcoin does not have government backing and therefore Bitcoin mining is haram does match realities on the ground.

And in all fairness, many of the scholars who said that Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining is haram had declared such opinions years ago. Times change, new information becomes available, and it may be that these scholars have also changed their opinion.

We have come a long way since Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hit the world stage over 10 years ago and as our overall understanding and education of cryptocurrency has evolved, so has the opinion of our scholars.

So, is Bitcoin mining halal? According to a number of scholars, yes. You are providing a service and being compensated for that service. The only thing you must do now is to check your government’s legal rulings on cryptocurrency.

And in the end, Allah knows best.

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You may have heard of Ethereum, and along with Bitcoin, it is one of the two leading cryptocurrencies in the world right now. There’s a chance you may have even bought some Ethereum in the past or own some now. Even if this is the case, you may still not fully understand what Ethereum is. You just heard that it’s a good cryptocurrency to have and you decided to buy and HODL (Hold On for Dear Life).

So what is Ethereum? Ethereum is a cryptocurrency that builds upon the capabilities of Bitcoin. Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain that allows programmers to create decentralized applications (dApps) that run on the Ethereum blockchain with the native token of the blockchain being called, Ether.

Many experts predict that Ethereum will be the technology that will dominate the crypto market within a few years and that it’ll even be the world’s reference currency. But what is Ethereum, how does it work, what are its possibilities, and what does the nearest future hold for it?

In this guide, What is Ethereum? Ethereum for Beginners, we’ll give you the answers to these and other questions about Ethereum, so that when you finish reading, you’ll be almost an expert on the subject insha’Allah.

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a blockchain-based network – similar to the Bitcoin blockchain – that supports its own cryptocurrency called Ether (ETH), and which also allows the development of other programs based on its technology.

What does this mean?

It means that it is a platform that offers tools to “create” other things, such as:

• Other cryptocurrencies
• Smart contracts
• Decentralized applications (dApps)
• Centralized payment bridges
• Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)
• Crowdfunding offers (ICO)

Ethereum was initially proposed by Vitalik Buterin at the end of 2013, a project that other people quickly joined, such as Anthony Di Lorio, Gavin Wood, and Joseph Lubin, among others.

Finally, Ethereum was formally launched on July 30, 2015, with the mining of its first block – the genesis block.

What is the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Although Bitcoin and Ethereum have many things in common, they also have many differences.

The main difference between both blockchains is their objectives. The purpose of Bitcoin is to represent wealth, like gold. It could even replace traditional money.

On the other hand, the purpose of Ethereum is to be a platform for other applications to work, mainly Smart Contracts – more on that later.

Bitcoin is a digital currency and is not used for anything else, while the Ethereum platform also has its digital currency called Ether (ETH), but this is used for network maintenance.

In the technical aspect, there are quite a few differences and if we had to choose between the most relevant, these would be the following:

1- Emission limit
Currently, the Bitcoin network creates 12.5 BTC every 10 minutes (75 BTC per hour), while the Ethereum network can create 3 Ethers every 15 seconds (720 Ether per hour).

2- Units limit
While Bitcoin limits its production to 21 million bitcoin – and there are about 18 million in circulation – the amount of Ether that can be produced is unlimited.

3- Operating cost
In Bitcoin, the cost of transactions is linked to the size of the transaction. In Ethereum, the cost (gas fees) is assigned to each operation.

4- Node size
The size of the Bitcoin node is limited to 1MB, while in Ethereum it’s limited by the amount of gas. This means that Bitcoin only processes 4 transactions per second, while Ethereum processes 20.

5- Versatility
The Bitcoin hash algorithm (SHA-256) is performed efficiently with specific hardware such as ASIC. In Ethereum, its algorithm, the KECCAK-256, is not as specific to one type of hardware, which guarantees further mining decentralization.

What can you do with the Ethereum blockchain?

Before answering this question, it’s important to first understand how Ethereum works.

If you want to do something on the Ethereum network you need Ether, which is its native cryptocurrency. Ether is like food for Ethereum. Each transaction requires an amount of Ether and the larger and more complex the work, the more Ether is needed.

Imagine for a moment that you need someone to prepare a report of your business’ sales, which will cost 12 Ether.

Traditionally and for security reasons, you first wait for the report to be prepared for you, and then you transfer the money, right? But sometimes it happens that they ask you for the money before they can start the job.

But what happens if you pay and then the other person doesn’t do their part? You’ve been scammed…

With Ethereum, the transaction can be linked to a Smart Contract in which it’s reflected that if Carl prepares and delivers the report for Peter, Carl will receive 12 Ether in his wallet automatically. All this would be reflected in a transparent way for both parties in the Ethereum network. There is no place for scams.

The goal of Ethereum is to allow developers to write programs that allow self-governance and transaction automation. In addition to this, the use of decentralized applications or dApps within the Ethereum network allows the development of all kinds of digital products and services.

The Ethereum blockchain allows the principles of trust, transparency, security, and efficiency to be transferred to any service, business, or industry. In this way, Ethereum has managed to integrate into a wide variety of services and industries, including:

• File custody services
• Platforms for the exchange of goods and services
• Product shipment tracking
• Insurance contracts
• Web services of all kinds
• Videogames
• Collectible tokens (NFTs)
• Prediction markets
• Social media
• Information records

An example is Gnosis, a decentralized prediction market that allows its users to vote on all kinds of topics. Another similar app is Augur, which rewards correct predictions on various topics.

EtherTweet is a social network similar to Twitter but without any kind of censorship. Cent is another social network for people to experiment with NFTs.

For its part, Etheria, is a game similar to Minecraft, but with incentives, Cryptokitties is a popular NFT collectibles game, and DAI is a stablecoin or currency pegged to the US dollar.

Your imagination is the limit.

What are Ethereum Smart Contracts?

Smart Contracts are the feature that best identifies the Ethereum network. These are programs that replicate traditional contracts, but instead of being made on paper, they’re written in computer code stored in the blockchain.

These “contracts” are no longer analyzed, interpreted, and executed by people, but are executed by the computers that are part of the Ethereum network, in exchange for a financial reward.

As we mentioned before, these contracts are executed automatically – after payment to the network – according to the agreement established between the parties involved. That is, the software will execute a series of predetermined tasks, according to the instructions written in its code.

The payment to the network is necessary so that there is an economic incentive to dedicate the computational power necessary to execute the contract. This implies that the more complex and lengthy a contract is, the more expensive it’ll be – one of Ethereum’s current problems.

Now, the most interesting and innovative part of all this, is that there is no need for a trusted third party to ensure compliance with the contract, but rather, technology that ensures that the conditions are met.

In addition, it’s not possible to modify or censor the contract, since it’s written in a public and immutable database such as the blockchain.

What are Ethereum gas fees?

Up to this point, you already know that Ethereum and Ether are not the same thing; Ethereum is the base platform, while Ether is the cryptocurrency used on that platform.

Every time you send ETH or use an application on Ethereum, you’ll have to pay a small fee in ETH to use the network. This is an incentive for miners to process and verify what you want to do.

Of course, you can also use ETH as a payment method, or invest in it and wait for a subsequent price increase and collect your profits.

It’s also important to say that each ETH is divisible by up to 18 decimal places (0.000000000000000001 ETH). This is important when it comes to gas fees.

What exactly are gas fees?

On the Bitcoin network, each time a transaction takes place, this includes a small commission for the miners who maintain the network. The equivalent within Ethereum is what we know as “gas.”

It’s not another currency, it’s the name that is given to the measure you have to pay to use the network, be it a transfer, a smart contract, a game, etc.

Now, we can see two different concepts here: the gas limit and the gas price.

The limit refers to how many units of gas you are willing to spend on a particular transaction and usually, it doesn’t vary; while the price is the amount of ETH that each unit of gas costs. To get the total cost, you must then multiply the limit by the price.

Here is an excellent website that will help you to determine the cost of Ether gas prices, Ethereum Gas Tracker.

Pros and Cons of Ethereum

Many people think that Ethereum is the cryptocurrency destined to replace Bitcoin as the queen of the crypto world, however, everything has its pros and cons. Let’s see.

Advantages of Ethereum:

1.- Decentralized automation
Ethereum is a global access platform on which it’s possible to run complex smart contracts. This totally eliminates the need to depend on services provided by third parties for its operation.

2.- Platform for other products or services
This ability allows Ethereum to be an increasingly robust ecosystem. As time goes by, there will be a greater quantity and better quality of information on the platform insha’Allah.

3.- Defined goals
The future of Ethereum is clear, so the community has the standards for what to expect in the next few years, much clearer than with other blockchains.

4- Great support
Beyond the founders of Ethereum, there are many companies involved in its study and development. After Bitcoin, Ethereum (and Ether) is the most business-supported crypto network.

Disadvantages of Ethereum:

1- Complexity
The fact that Ethereum is intended as a platform and not as a cryptocurrency, causes it to never be as effective as other blockchains. Bitcoin is simple and effective, it only has one approach. Instead, Ethereum is designed to be a kind of supercomputer. That complexity makes it less optimized.

2- Possible failures
Ethereum will soon undergo major changes transitioning to the Ethereum 2.0 network (Eth 2.0). If there are any problems during this period, it could seriously damage the platform architecture and crash the system.

3- Difficult for newbies
There is no availability of a large amount of quality documentation on the platform, which is an obstacle for those who want to develop projects in Ethereum for the first time. Over time it will improve, but for the moment, getting involved in developing Smart Contracts is difficult for many.

4– High gas fees
Due to the high congestion of transactions on the Ethereum network, miners are charging higher gas fees as they get to pick and choose what transactions they want to validate and this has been a major pain point with Ethereum as many people are not able to have their transactions processed on the network as they are not willing or do not have the funds to pay for the high gas fees.

The future of Ethereum

Certainly, the Ethereum network is one of the most used blockchains in the world and since its launch in 2015, it has been moving towards the proposed goal of becoming a huge global network of decentralized applications.

However, Ethereum still has a lot to improve, and the community behind its development is working hard to make this goal come true.

Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity) will be the largest and most comprehensive update ever made by the Ethereum community and is supposed to improve almost all current network problems:

1.- Scalability
This is the main current problem for Ethereum, as the network supports a large number of applications and can only process about 20 transactions per second. To solve this, the development community will use a process called sharding.

2.- Efficiency
The consensus currently used in Ethereum is known as Proof of Work (PoW) and requires a huge amount of computational power and electricity, which makes it very inefficient and expensive.

Eth 2.0 will seek the transition of the network from a PoW protocol to a Proof of Stake (PoS) protocol called “Casper”, which will help improve scalability, efficiency, and sustainability for the network, as well as lower gas fees for transactions and smart contracts.

Rewards
Aside from correcting problems, Eth2 will also bring the possibility for users to invest their Ether and earn rewards by running nodes or joining staking pools, or even staking through external exchanges.

This possibility of staking of Eth2, could also be a factor that makes the price of Ether rise in the future.

Is Ethereum halal?

Is Ethereum halal? Yes, Ethereum is halal. Scholars that rule cryptocurrency as halal also consider Ethereum as halal. Scholars view Ethereum (ETH) as a utility token and as an asset and not a currency.

Some of our scholars have also been closely studying Ethereum. Amanie Advisors, a shariah advisory firm that specializes in Islamic finance, has written a whitepaper on Ethereum where they have concluded that Ethereum does meet the requirements to be categorized as mal (property) according to the shariah and is therefore halal to buy, sell, hold, trade, and to utilize on the Etereum blockchain for any halal activity.

Amanie Advisors recognizes Ethereum as a utility token and categorizes Ethereum as an asset and not a currency, so the rules of riba al buyu do not apply as it is not yet classified as a currency.

Their goal of researching and producing a whitepaper on Ethereum is to encourage scholars of Islamic finance to find ways to utilize blockchain technology for the good of the ummah and the world at large.

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