The crypto world is fast emerging as the new attraction for big names from the Islamic world, with Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, grandson of the first president of UAE Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, being the latest entrant to the virtual currency sector.
Sheikh Hazza will be making his entry to the crypto world as a top advisor to the Swiss-based Shariah-compliant digital money venture Islamic Coin.
An official representative of Islamic Coin confirmed to Arabian Business the company’s move to rope in the grandson of the first UAE President to the company advisory board.
“It is a great pleasure to join such a diverse and focused team and work together on bringing unique and life changing solutions to the Muslim world and beyond,” Sheikh Hazza said.
Shariah-compliant cryptocurrency
Sheikh Hazza will be joining some of the big names from the Islamic finance world such as Sheikh Dr. Nizam Mohammed Saleh Yaquby, billed by Bloomberg as ‘the Gatekeeper’ of a $2 trillion market for Islamic financial products, and Hussein Al Meeza, one of the founders of the Dubai Islamic Bank and Emaar Properties, to help the Swiss-based crypto venture to establish itself as the leading player in the emerging Shariah-compliant virtual currency financial ecosystem.
The Islamic Coin representative said Sheikh Hazza bin will be helping the company to focus on its mission to empower the world’s Muslim community with a financial instrument for the digital age that enables seamless transactions and interaction.
“He will also be involved in supporting the innovation and philanthropy work of the company,” the company representative said.
The advisory board of Islamic Coin, the Swiss-based non-profit Haqq Association-run blockchain, also includes members of Abu Dhabi and Dubai ruling families, including Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohammad bin Khalifa bin Mohammad bin Khalid Al Nahyan and Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum Al Maktoum.
“The venture brings together the most reputable actors of the Islamic world in order to promote the community driven decentralised technologies worldwide, targeting the estimated 1.1 billion Muslim internet users worldwide,” an industry observer said.
Besides, it also caters to millions of others that support ethics-first financial services.
Co-founded by Mohammed AlKaff Al Hashmi, Hussein Mohammed Al Meeza, Andrey Kuznetsov and Alex Malkov, Islamic Coin has recently secured $200 million from private investors.
Khalid Howladar, Dubai-based chairman of Marhaba De-Fi, Ibrahim Alkurd, a serial VC founder which invests in ventures including those in the digital assets and halal-oriented startups, Daniel Ahmed, who co-founded Fasset, after working as an advisor at the UAE prime minister’s office, and Shah Sheikh and Mohammed Imran who founded the faith-inspired NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace for digital arts and sports based startups, are among the other leading names from the Islamic world which are actively involved in the crypto sector, including in the UAE and the larger Middle East region.
Besides, there are also a group of Muslim artists working in NFT’s amid the growing popularity of the digital asset sector in the Middle East.
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