Two Billion Muslims Are Tipping the Next Wave of Crypto Innovation

Hot off the heels of Istanbul Blockchain Week and the global launch of Islamic Coin this month, there is a rising tide we don’t normally read about – the far-reaching inroads that crypto is making into one of the world’s greatest and oldest civilizations.

Crypto’s Uneasy Relationship with TradFi

When you follow Western-centric news coverage long enough, you’ll find familiar narratives about the relationship between crypto and traditional finance (TradFi) that play out repeatedly.   

The main camp thinks that crypto is chockful of bad actors who can’t be truly reformed and have borderline intentions with TradFi. Hence it is either an unholy union or an inconvenient marriage at best. The Financial Establishment, Old Money, and Interventionist Regulators typically fit into this column.

On the other camp, crypto is hailed as the latter-day saviour who can remake the financial order to address global issues caused by TradFi like inequality and exclusion. Its supporters keep crypto news desks afloat with eyeballs and adspend, and may sometimes feel like an echo chamber by degens for degens.

Those who want to keep an open mind or are intellectually curious would be torn between the two. This false choice of ‘either-love-or-hate’ crypto blind spots the real narratives happening outside of the Western hemisphere.

Then there’s Islamic Finance. (Blockhead is calling this IsFi, if you will.)