Is DeFi halal or haram overall?
Question context
CoinStudy's answer
Research opinion from the CoinStudy Sharia team. Not a fatwa.
DeFi cannot receive one universal ruling. It is a category not a product. Lending protocols like Aave are Haram due to interest-based lending. Perpetual futures DEXs are Haram due to zero-sum leveraged trading and funding rates. Algorithmic stablecoins with stability fees are Haram. Yield tokenization of interest-bearing instruments is Haram. Basic DEX trading for spot swaps is Halal With Concerns. Liquidity provision is conditional on the chairman's two-condition test. Native Proof of Stake staking is a scholarly grey area. The ruling belongs to the specific economic relationship of each specific protocol. Understanding what each protocol actually does financially is the only honest basis for assessment.
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