Turkey’s top religious body declares Bitcoin ‘inappropriate’

ANKARA

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has ruled that digital currency Bitcoin is not appropriate according to Islam “at this point.”

In its response to a question on purchasing digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum for investment purposes, Diyanet noted that digital currencies are not under a central authority or under the guarantee of any state or financial institution.

“The purchase and selling of digital currencies is not appropriate according to religion at this point due to the fact that they are open to speculation in terms of value and they can easily be used mostly in illegal deeds such as money laundering. They are also far from state auditing and supervision,” the Diyanet stated.

Bitcoin broke through the $10,000 barrier for the first time on Nov. 29, extending a stratospheric rise that has delighted investors but sparked fears of a bubble.

The virtual currency hit a high of $10,903 in Asia, according to Bloomberg News, about 14 times its value at the start of the year.

Created in 2009, bitcoin uses encryption and a blockchain database that enables the fast and anonymous transfer of funds outside of a traditional centralized payment system.

It has increased more than 10-fold in value so far this year, posting the largest gain of all asset classes, amid increased institutional demand for crypto-currencies as financial and mainstream use has expanded.

But skeptics say it a classic speculative bubble with no relation to real financial market activity or the economy, most famously JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon who labeled
it a fraud.