Fasset, a digital asset investment platform, has been given a provisional banking license in Malaysia, clearing the way for what it calls the world’s first stablecoin-powered Islamic digital bank.
The move places Fasset within a regulated sandbox for Islamic fintech, enabling the company to expand its existing digital asset platform into full-service banking, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.
With the new license, Fasset plans to offer Shariah-compliant savings, financing, and investment services that use stablecoins and tokenized assets. Customers will be able to hold deposits, invest in U.S. stocks, gold, and crypto, and spend through a planned Visa-linked crypto card.
CEO Mohammad Raafi Hossain said the new license combines “the credibility of a global banking institution with the innovation of a fintech insurgent.” Fasset also plans to roll out “Own,” an Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Arbitrum, to settle regulated real-world assets on-chain.
The company said that its stablecoin infrastructure allows users to avoid interest-bearing products while preserving the value of their assets against inflation or currency swings. Shariah forbids all forms of interest (known as riba).
Fasset aims to address a persistent gap in financial inclusion across the $5 trillion global Islamic finance industry. Access to halal, asset-backed financial products remains limited in many Muslim-majority regions, especially in Asia and Africa.
Back in March of last year, Fasset won a license to operate in Dubai as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), and the Dubai- and Jakarta-based company said its platform is already processing more than $6 billion in annualized transaction volume across 125 countries.