The Use of Blockchain Technology in the Development of the Islamic Financial Market: Case Study: Smart Sukuk

Abstract

Over the past few years, the fourth industrial revolution had had a significant shift on the financial industry, through the integration of financial technology innovations into the financial sector. One of these innovations is Blockchain Technology, which has the ability to change the financial industry in general, concerning the way transactions transact and businesses conduct. Islamic financial industry, in turn, had to keep pace with these changes and innovations by integrating blockchain technology into its products, giving birth to a new generation of sukuk, which is Smart Sukuk. This research presents a conceptual study of the potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing the existing financial business applications, in which it focuses on the industry of smart sukuk in the Islamic financial market. Therefore, it aims to address the issue of using blockchain technology in the development of the Islamic financial market by digitizing the structuring, trading, and settlement process of sukuk through smart contracts, as well as to evaluate their efficiency using different smart sukuk platform experiences (Blossom Finance, HLC, Wethaq Capital Markets) based on both descriptive and analytical approaches. The descriptive approach is used to review the basic concepts of blockchain technology, and its working mechanism, as well as its main applications in the financial industry. However, the analytical approach is used to evaluate the leading smart sukuk experiences, and the most prominent challenges facing its application, noting also the potential application of smart sukuk in Algeria. This study concluded that blockchain technology contributes significantly to the digitization of the Islamic financial market by automating the structure of blockchain-based sukuk, which results in eliminating financial intermediation, reducing costs, increasing the security level, increasing the earning of contractors, and improving their competitiveness on the market.