A pioneering mosque in East London, which made history recently for becoming the first in Britain to accept crypto-currency donations, has exceeded its £10,000 alms target for Ramadan. Masjid Ramadan just over a month ago announced it was enabling Zakat and Sadaqah donations to be received in Bitcoin and Ethereum. These are considered two of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world.

Some interesting facts about cryptocurrency,  according to a recent survey 97.15% of Brits, haven’t bought cryptocurrency. However, of the 2.85% of Brits who have bought cryptocurrency, 78.95% have bought Bitcoin. Shortly after the scholar, Abu Bakar published a report, “the price of Bitcoin rose roughly $1000.”  In 2016, a positive opinion was issued, about investing in gold, “by Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).”

By the end of Ramadan, the 30-day campaign at the mosque raised a total of £17,443, £13,983 of which were cryptocurrency donations.

The masjid is located in Dalston, also known as Shackwell Lane mosque, received 24 cryptocurrency donations throughout the holy month 17th May to 14th June. Of these, seventeen were in Bitcoin (14 for Zakat**, 3 for Sadaqah**), and seven were in Ethereum (4 for Zakat, 3 for Sadaqah). The largest one-off crypto-currency donation Masjid Ramadan received was 14.99 Ethereum for Sadaqah, worth more than £5,200. The global media coverage about the ‘Zakat campaign’ led to interest from as far afield as Indonesia from an Ethereum miner; it’s believed one of the Ethereum donations was as a result of this enquiry.

Erkin Guney, chairman of the mosque’s Board of Trustees, expressed his delight at the outcome of the Ramadan campaign: “We are truly grateful to everyone who donated whether through crypto-currency or by conventional means. Many people at the mosque were initially sceptical about us accepting this new money, but the fact we received four times more in crypto-currency donations shows how important it is to be open to these new digital currencies. These donations will make a huge difference to our mosque and charitable works.”

Masjid Ramadan is one of the first mosques in the world to accept cryptocurrency donations. The story went global, with coverage in the UK, USA, Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Russia, & Far East incl. Indonesia & Vietnam. Thank you to all the media who have covered our story.

— Masjid Ramadan (@MasjidRamadan) May 31, 2018

Cryptocurrency zakat in a nutshell:

Today: You owe 2.5% on the value of all your coins.
Tomorrow: You are now zakat-eligible. Please proceed to your masjid for your check.

— Kamran (@bachayfremont) May 15, 2018

Masjid Ramadan, liquidated its crypto- currency donations soon after to uphold Islams speculation rule, preventing trading of these assets. The mosque exchanged its currency with reputable organisations, LocalBitcoin.com and LocalEthereum.com for sterling, with the amount deposited directly to the mosques bank account.

The UK registered charity Turkish Islamic Trust, designate funds for three areas. The areas include assisting poor Muslim families with funeral costs, feeding and offering shelter to those in need locally, carrying out essential repairs at the mosque.

Gurmit Singh, founder of Combo Innovation, a London-based Islamic finance blockchain technology start-up who advised and assisted the mosque on how to receive, store and sell crypto-currency safely, said: “We are very pleased with the response to Masjid Ramadan’s Crypto Zakat and Sadaqah initiative and how it has complimented their conventional methods of raising funds, whilst remaining within Islamic doctrine. I hope other mosques and charities will now follow Masjid Ramadan’s lead to take advantage of this important new revenue stream. We feel the potential Blockchain technology can have on redistributing wealth within the global Islamic community is immense and invite institutions to explore other possible applications of this technology with us.”