The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) of Saudi Arabia's research outfit is reportedly using blockchain to develop new sharia-complaint financial products.
According to Reuters, the Islamic Research and Training Institute has struck an agreement with two startups – Ateon and SettleMint, the latter of which is based in Belgium – to perform technical feasibility studies ahead of any deeper research and development. SettleMint published the news about the deal on its official blog earlier this week.
Sharia-compliant finance generally forbids the collection of interest on loans, as well as speculative investments. While it's unclear what specific types of products might ultimately consider deploying, the group reportedly said that it was interested in asset exchanges that can settle in near-instant time.
https://www.coindesk.com/islamic-development-bank-research-sharia-compliant-blockchain-products/