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24 percent of the world’s population are Muslims. That’s almost 1.8 billion people at the last count. Indonesia has the greatest number of Muslims at 231 million, followed by Pakistan and India, each with over 200 million. Africa represents 16 percent of the world’s Muslim population, with Egypt at 85 million, Nigeria at 75 million followed by Senegal and Kenya.

SiGMA examines why the launch of Islamic Digital Currency is a significant milestone.

Countries with large Muslim populations are vying to take advantage of the growing Islamic banking and finance sector, which is on track to reach US $4 trillion by 2026. Iran represents a quarter of the volume, followed by Saudi Arabia. Malaysia, at US $250 billion ranks third. Keen not to miss out, the governments of several Asian countries are actively promoting the development of Islamic financial markets and digital currency. With Indonesia Islamic banking realising US $5 billion a month, it is clear why.

While Africa lags far behind at just 2 percent of the Islamic finance market, its growing population which is 40 percent Muslim, is also attracting the attention of bankers and investment funds. In a recent report Moody’s stated that Islamic banking assets in Africa are expected to increase noticeably over the next ten years.

Put simply, Islamic banking provides financial services based on the ethical principles of Shariah law that governs social, political and economic relationships and actions. However, investment in illicit (Haram) activities, such as alcohol and gambling, is forbidden. In Arabic, Maisir (or Maysir) or Qimar describes speculation or gambling, prohibited in Islamic finance because it creates wealth from chance.

What is unclear is if the definition of creating wealth from chance also covers rewards for iGaming skills. Until recently, Islamic banking generally resulted in the Islamic financial service provider becoming a co-owner of the underlying assets, thereby assuming some risks and sharing losses and profits (Sukuk). But several new avenues have opened within Islamic investment, such as charitable trusts, private equity, exchange-traded sukuk funds, Shariah-compliant mortgage investment funds and halal mutual funds. With new applications within AI, blockchain and IoT being explored, new digital solutions are likely to enhance the market attractiveness of the sector. Digitisation is disrupting business models across the industry with services such as digital payment platforms and wallets to robo-advisory services, insurance (takaful) and Shariahcompliant crypto, which is a fast-emerging financial product that is expected to attract investors from within and out of the Islamic world.

A leader in the field is ‘Islamic Coin’. Co-founder Hussein Al Meeza has over 40 years of experience spanning the Islamic banking, finance and insurance sectors and was involved in establishing the world’s first Islamic Bank ‘Dubai Islamic’. Sheikh Dr Nizam Mohammed Saleh Yaqub chairs Islamic Coin’s board. The Sheikh sits on the Shariah boards of HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Citigroup and is recognized by Bloomberg as ‘The Gatekeeper’ of a US $2 trillion market for Islamic financial products.

Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, member of the UAE royal family, says, “I feel that Islamic Coin will truly benefit the Muslim world and society as a whole. It is the world’s first digital money that gives back to the world.”

The Islamic Coin mobile wallet is Master Card-enabled. Backers believe this gives anyone a means to make daily transactions and payments without being crypto experts. Also in progress is the introduction of a halal Shariah-compliant exchange, ‘Stable Coin© and listings on major global exchanges this year. However, a red flag for iGaming is the Islamic Coin’s rule never to back projects with ‘’a negative impact on the community, such as gambling’’.

Mohammed AlKaff AlHashmi and Hussein Mohammed Al Meeza of the competing Islamic coin ‘Haqq’ believe the Haqq coin will ‘’help the Islamic community make their day-to-day online monetary transactions ethical. It uses ‘Point of Sale’ which is more eco-friendly and is also Ethereum-compatible.

Indonesia has emerged as an early crypto adopter with online speculative trading driving use. The government was due to launch a crypto stock exchange in 2021 but postponed it to 2022 and again to sometime in 2023. It is unclear if the Indonesian Ulema Council, the body of Islamic scholars, declaring that cryptocurrency as a means of payment and a commodity to trade is ‘Haram’ [unlawful for Muslims] is the cause of the delay.

Closer to home, in a recent interview with AIBC News, Malta-based Islamic financial expert Reuben Buttigieg stated that, ‘’Islamic Coin has a huge potential in Malta. The main thing is that the mechanisms of how crypto functions are very much in line with the principles of Islamic finance provided that no speculation is done on the particular gain.” Going on to speculate that the crowdfunding element ‘’could be a huge boost for the Islamic finance world."

Central to Islamic finance is that money itself has no intrinsic value. Investment manager at Sparrows Capital, Mark Northway, believes Crypto Currency complies with the central tenant of Islamic finance as Crypto coin is not underpinned by any intrinsic value; instead, it is determined by one thing: confidence’’.

If this interpretation is accepted, the door to using Islamic Coin for online games of skills could be wide open. There are similarities between this approach and the one taken by Gaming companies in Japan where gambling is illegal. Pachinko (pinball) is regarded as an exception and treated as an amusement activity.

The Malta Financial Services Association (MFSA) was the first EU regulator to issue guidelines on Islamic finance, believing Malta to be an ideal platform for Islamic Banks and establishing Shariacompliant funds: Malta’s robust regulatory framework, techsavvy skills pool, and location provide a strategic but perishable competitive edge.

In 2016 the Malta Stock Exchange launched an Islamic Equity Index. Subsequently, it certified the stocks of listed SME companies whose activities are Sharia-compliant. Since then, however, Malta appears to have lost its early adopter advantage. London has become the hub for Sharia-compliant finance in the Western world, with 5 licensed Islamic banks and over 20 conventional banks offering Islamic financial products.

Malta has also lost ground to other EU countries: Luxembourg was the first in the EU to issue a sovereign sukuk, and 49 shariacompliant funds are domiciled there. Germany, Switzerland, and France are also pushing hard to gain market share.

Why has Malta not gained a stronger foothold? There is speculation that as a 95% catholic nation, association with Islam may have a negative effect on business and reputation. However, as perceived higher levels of ethical credibility and rapid adoption of digital solutions contribute to Islamic finances, accelerated growth, Malta has an opportunity to leverage its digital strengths to share in this market.

Malta ranks 5th out of 28 EU Member States and performs above the EU average in all five dimensions of the 2020 Digital Economy and Society Index. With Malta, one of the world’s leading iGaming hubs and an incubator of iGaming innovation, companies active in the sector are well placed to benefit from the digital transition and support the growth of Islamic Coin adoption as payment.

THE REALITY HOWEVER IS THAT THE DOMINANT METAVERSES OF TODAY ARE 3D WORLDS BUILT ON TOP OF A 2D ENVIRONMENT.

There is a long-standing adage that it takes 10 years to become an overnight success. And while the metaverse and its varying individual buzzwords including NFTs, AI, augmented or virtual reality, are all the darlings of today’s media, thereby creating an unprecedented hype, the concept itself has been around for decades.

While Forbes named the metaverse as one of the top trends of 2023, the term itself was first coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash”. It referred to a virtual reality shared by millions of users, where they could interact with each other, conduct business, and participate in various activities. The metaverse was seen as a kind of successor to the internet, offering a more immersive and interactive experience.

Over the years, the metaverse has evolved from a sci-fi idea to a real-world concept that is gradually taking shape. That being said, the entire concept is both enormous and fluid.

Mark Zuckerberg’s “Meta” vision is a 3D social media channel with AI-driven messaging tailored to each user. This fits with a widespread misconception that metaverse requires physical VR headwear to be realised – a notion completely reinforced by Ernest Cline’s book/movie Ready Player One.

The reality however is that the dominant metaverses of today are 3D worlds built on top of a 2D environment. Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite are probably the most familiar names. Roblox statistics confirm over 58.8 million daily active users were logging into games by Q3 of 2022. Minecraft has 165 million registered users, and although Fortnite has smaller user numbers (~85 million) a massive 45.8 million people saw Travis Scott’s “Astronomical” show.

Decentraland is fast becoming a household name and while there are obvious commonalities with Roblox et al, highlighting the differences between Decentraland and Roblox demonstrate the technological and conceptual expanse of what the metaverse actually is.

1. Ownership: Decentraland is built on blockchain technology, which means that users own the virtual land and assets they create and can trade them with others. In contrast, Roblox is a centralized platform where users do not own the content they create.

THE METAVERSE COULD BECOME A KIND OF DIGITAL TWIN OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD, OFFERING A MIRROR IMAGE OF REALITY THAT IS MORE ENGAGING AND IMMERSIVE.

2. Economy: Decentraland has its own cryptocurrency, MANA, which is used to buy and sell virtual land and assets. Roblox, on the other hand, has its own virtual currency called Robux, which can be used to buy in-game items and access premium features.

3. Purpose: Decentraland is primarily designed as a platform for creating and experiencing virtual reality content, while Roblox is more focused on gaming and social experiences.

4. Development: Decentraland is more geared towards developers who want to create 3D content using their own tools and programming languages. Roblox, on the other hand, has a simpler development process that allows anyone to create games and experiences without prior coding experience.

In essence, it’s important to understand that there will be no “one” single metaverse. It is being shaped by a combination of technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, blockchain, and the internet of things. It is a network of interconnected virtual worlds and spaces that users can access and interact with via their devices. The metaverse includes social media platforms, online games, virtual marketplaces, and other virtual environments that are used for various purposes.

Matthew Ball, a prominent media analyst who has written extensively on the topic of the metaverse, defines it as "a massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds that can be experienced by millions of simultaneous users."

Ball believes that the metaverse will be a transformative technology that will have a profound impact on society, business, and culture in the coming decades. Already the use cases for the metaverse are broad in scope – here are few of the myriad examples of commercial brands getting involved:

· Nike has already filed four patent and trademark applications for downloadable virtual goods operational in the metaverse.

· Disney is developing a metaverse theme park. In December, the company filed for a patent for a "virtual-world simulator."

· Coca-Cola auctioned its first NFT, a prize package on OpenSea that reaped $575,000.

· Gucci opened Vault, a store selling "Supergucci" NFTs. In fact a digital Gucci bag was sold for more than $4,100 – outbidding the physical item’s actual real-life price.

As well as commerce and gaming, the future of the metaverse has life-altering potential in every conceivable sector. For example in healthcare it could assist people to overcome physical and mental disabilities and enable breakthroughs in medical research and procedures. Business operations will be changed forever with the ability of 3D meetings and conferences bringing people together in a way that is not available in today’s remote working toolkit. Socially it will allow attendance and viewing of concerts and sporting events – for example 33 million people watched Lil Nax X’s concert inside the Roblox world; something inconceivable and impossible in physical reality.

Essentially the metaverse could become a kind of digital twin of the physical world, offering a mirror image of reality that is more engaging and immersive. However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome before it can fully realize its potential.

One of the most significant implications of the metaverse is its potential to democratise access to resources and opportunities. In the physical world, access to resources and opportunities is often limited by geography, social status, and other factors. In the metaverse, however, anyone can access virtual spaces and resources regardless of their physical location or background.

Technology is rapidly transforming the way we live and work, and it is becoming increasingly clear that education must evolve to meet these new demands. The traditional model of lecture-based instruction and rote memorisation no longer suffices in preparing students for a rapidly changing job market. At the same time, the need for a more engaging and dynamic approach to education has never been greater, one that motivates students to take an active role in their own learning and equips them with the skills necessary to succeed in the digital age.

Crypsense Digital Group is gamifying the education process, with a focus on making it more interesting and fun for students. The company believes that the traditional method of education, with its numerous notes and monotonous lectures, is pushing students away from caring about their education. With Crypsense Digital Group’s approach, students are incentivised to pay attention and learn faster by the reward systems in place. These rewards can come in many forms, such as NFT-based, token drops, scholarships, paid subscriptions and placement.

Mutonya explains “ideally, we reduce the number of notes and boring lectures that are pushing students from caring about their education. We want to make our methods of education more interesting and fun. It’s easier to incentivize students to pay attention once you have engaged them in this way.”

Besides their gamification project, Crypsense Digital Group is a capacity building and accelerator program. Last January, the team was crowned the winner of the AIBC Africa Pitch competition. The competition brought together some of the most innovative and promising startups in the tech industry.

The capacity building and accelerator program is a game changer in the Web3 space, with a unique approach to education. The company aims to reduce the number of boring lectures and make education more engaging through the process of gamification. Students will be incentivized to pay attention by being rewarded for learning quickly and efficiently, with rewards ranging from NFT-based incentives to scholarships and paid subscriptions.

The Crypsense team believes that the gamification of education is not a threat to educators, but instead a tool that helps them become more effective. The company is in the process of launching their DApp for the virtual trading platform and is expected to be ready for testing in the next quarter.

Crypsense Digital Group has established partnerships with some of the top tier global blockchain companies. In as far as infrastructure development partners, the Africa Blockchain Center provides infrastructure development support, with more than 100 blockchain developers in Africa. Fireblocks is also a close partner in as far as highly secured custodial infrastructure with MPC technology. In as far as education is concerned, Crypsense strategic partners include PLP and Prodigy Schools. Crypsense also has partnerships with the major global African-focused exchanges such as Yellowcard and LBank

The team has received a significant boost in networking opportunities, “thanks to the SiGMA Africa Summit and its partnerships with top-tier and strategic partners.” The support they have received from organisations such as the African Blockchain

Center, VeChain Foundation, Draper University- the leading Web 3 accelerator in Silicon Valley and being invited to the World Economic Forum has been a significant part of their journey.

The inaugural Africa Pitch competition was a resounding success, showcasing some of the brightest and most innovative startups in the African tech ecosystem. The competition provided a platform for these startups to showcase their ideas, network with investors and other industry players, and receive valuable feedback from the judges. It is clear that Africa is home to a vibrant and rapidly growing tech ecosystem, and events like Africa Pitch will undoubtedly play a key role in driving its continued growth and development in the years to come.