Gulf firms reveal world's first Islamic capital blockchain platform

July 20, 2018 2013

Wethaq will play the role of a platform for financial institutions, fundraisers and investors to use in the pre-sale, issuance, management and secondary trading of sukuk products

ArabianChain Technology, a Gulf-based innovator in the blockchain industry, has said it has signed a joint venture with Curiositas to create Wethaq, the world's first platform for Islamic capital markets using smart contracts and legal automation.

Wethaq will play the role of a platform for financial institutions, fundraisers and investors to use in the pre-sale, issuance, management and secondary trading of sukuk products, a statement said.

It added that Wethaq is expected to see issuance of its first mmart Ijara (contract) in the first half of 2019.

Dimitrios Vourakis, managing director of Dubai and London-based Curiositas, said: “Our platform matters as there is an urgent need for automation and standardisation in Islamic capital markets.

"Financial institutions, fundraisers and investors incur substantial operational costs and third-party charges in Islamic capital markets and face more complexity and intermediaries than those encountered in conventional markets.

"Wethaq separates the essential structuring services provided by financial institutions from additional services such as custodianship, and payments, and offers the latter on its automated platform.”

For a fee, clients will be able to use Wethaq's platform for the entire lifecycle of their sukuk product. The platform's target customers include financial institutions, investment banks, lawyers, auditors, ratings agencies, accredited investors and fundraisers.

ArabianChain founder and CEO, Mohammed Alsehli, said: “This is first ever global venture using frontier technology in Islamic capital markets and we believe that the Islamic finance ecosystem will benefit from this transparent, efficient and competitively priced platform.

"Due to its rigorous compliance and increased transparency, we expect both international investors and more conservative Islamic investors will consider investing in sukuk products through Wethaq.”