Blockchain and Its Applications on Islamic Finance

Key Concept:

Introduction

Blockchain is an exciting new technology that may prove to be a radical innovation—similar to technologies such as the steam engine and the Internet that triggered previous industrial revolutions—with the power to disrupt existing economic and business models. It has the potential to deliver productivity gains to multiple industries, from the financial sector to energy markets, supply chains, intellectual property management, virtual firms, the public sector, and beyond. Its ability to provide disintermediation, improve transparency, and increase auditability can significantly reduce transaction costs, introduce efficiency into existing value chains, challenge revenue models, and open new markets. And blockchain may prove particularly valuable in emerging market economies. Yet the technology is in its early stages of development and serious challenges and risks, both technical and regulatory, will need to be addressed before it achieves widespread adoption. Questions remain about blockchain’s scalability, interoperability, security, transition costs, data privacy, and governance. And business leaders and policy makers will need to think long and hard about when and under what conditions a blockchain initiative may be warranted.(International Finance Corporation, 2019)

Blockchain technology has been referred to as a new trust machine because of its ability to allow people to interact and conduct transactions even though they may not know each other or have a pre-existing trust-based relationship . Although the technology is amassing a body of literature, few sources make sense of the technology in accessible ways, and fewer yet focus on its applicability to the public sector, such as ways it can enable collaboration within and across governments and help reduce fraud, errors, and the cost of paper-intensive processes .(Berryhill, 2018)

Islamic finance and its digital economy offer opportunities for Muslims and non-Muslims as both populations now seek a convergent solution to their pressing issues—rebuilding trust