UK based Amanah DeFi to bring Blockchain Shariah compliant solutions to MENA region
Amanah DeFi is being incubated in Blockon Capital in the UAE
UK headquartered, Amanah DeFi startup, which launched in October of 2020, currently being incubated at Blockon Capital with offices in the UAE, aims to bring Shariah solutions to the DeFi ecosystem in the Muslim world utilizing a blockchain platform. As per their website they also aim to create alternative revenue methods for the Western world stemming from the Islamic Financial thought. This will be carried out utilizing DeFi innovation.
The Amanah DeFi platform incorporates a team with expertise in Islamic Finance, blockchain, DeFi, business and others.
The Founders of Amanah, which means trust in Arabic, intend to utilize the transparent and decentralized nature of Blockchain with smart contract functionality to monitor and regulate financial transactions.
The benefits according to Amanah DeFi website is the prohibition of Riba, allowing users of Amanah to create a Riba free solution to trade crypto assets on its platform. It also prohibits Gharar to ensure that its product offering is free of ambiguity, risk and uncertainity, and it prohibits Maysir which is gambling. The platform also facilitate Halal transaction For example, if a token is being used to facilitate Shariah non-compliant activities or businesses, then the wallet will prohibit such a transaction, through the logic in its smart contracts. Once certified as Shariah-compliant, the Amanah DeFi wallet will expand its reach into other Islamic Financial and Takaful
In an interview in CoinNewsextra, Amanah DeFi founders, Mufti Billal Omarjee (Co-Founder and Chief Islamic Compliance Officer) and Ilya Dobrovitsky (Co-Founder and CEO) stated, “With the growth of DeFi it is the right moment for Islamic Finance industry to be part of this new revolution. Islamic Finance is an attractive product that can improve lives.”
They add, “Muslim communities will benefit by taking control over their financial situation in a positive way and this is the whole point of DeFi.”
In another interview in BlockLeaders, Ilya Dobrovitski and Mohammed Naquib, based in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both founders explained, “ We are currently in the build stage and aim to be in the market by May 2021.”
As for the future, the founders of Amanah DeFi would like to utilize DeFi for micro financing in poor Muslim regions and to facilitate Zakat and Waqf projects and this could be the first step in alleviating poverty in these countries. Amanah DeFi also plans to list its token on two exchanges in Russia and Lithuania as well as on one major exchange yet to be named.
