Blockchain, Fintech, and Islamic Finance: Building the Future in the New Islamic Digital Economy

Following the success of the original edition published by DeGruyter in 2018, this book provides a much needed update on the role of Fintech in Islamic Finance. These new updates include new research that explores current concepts of decentralised finance (DeFi), distributed intelligence and a discussion of these concepts for financial applications that would be useful for industry. These revolutionary applications involve the integration of AI, blockchain, data analytics and IoT devices for a holistic solution to ensure technology adoption in a prudent and sustainable manner. The authors provide insights into the benefits and the shift in processes, as well as the challenges that need to be overcome for practical applications for AI and blockchain and how to approach such innovations. The progress of frontier technologies, such as cloud-based mobility, big data analytics, blockchain and IoT have enabled financial services to offer advanced solutions to improve asset productivity to meet rising customer expectations in a cost-efficient manner.

Several key areas are making financial disruption work ‒ tokenization of real world assets, maturity of stablecoins and the improved acceptance of regulations and standardization. We are witnessing two fast-growing trends merge and complement each other: the first one is tokenization, where all illiquid assets in the world, from private equity to real estate and luxury goods, become liquid and all liquid assets can be traded more efficiently. The second is the rise of a new tokenized economy where inevitably new rules will develop and new ways to enforce them in order to fully unleash their capabilities. By solving the volatility in cryptocurrencies with the introduction of stablecoins, the economic potential of blockchain can be further unlocked. These complementary and oft correlated trends will complete the decentralization of finance and the way financial services of smart cities of the future will be implemented.

This book discusses the crucial innovation, structural and institutional development for financial technologies Fintech in Islamic Finance. It is clear that the digital revolution in financial services is under way, and digital disruption has the potential to shrink the role and relevance of today's banks, while simultaneously creating better, faster, cheaper services that will be an essential part of everyday life.