Egypt banned trade in crypto-currency referring to ban by Islam

Almaty. January 3. Silkroadnews - Egypt banned trade in crypto-currency referring to ban by Islam, the Kazakh Telegraph Agency (KazTAG) reports with reference to the BBC Russian Sservice.
According to publication, Sheikh Shawki Allam, the Grand Mutfi of Egypt, gave a fatwa banning trade in crypto-currency saying “bitcoin is forbidden in Sharia as it causes harm to individuals, groups and institutions.” He also said the digital crypto-currency carried risks of “fraudulence, lack of knowledge, and cheating.”
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a nonbinding but authoritative legal opinion or learned interpretation that the Sheikhul Islam, a qualified jurist or mufti, can give on issues pertaining to the Islamic law.
It is noted, that last year bitcoin began below $1,000 but reached nearly $20,000 before the end of the year. It also lost Then it lost more than 25% of its value inside a week, sparking warnings of a dangerous bubble.
As the Grand Mufti of Egypt said, risks related to the use of bitcoin could arise, as this virtual currency is not a subject to surveillance by any centralized authority.
"Bitcoins are forbidden by the Sharia because they damage individuals, groups or institutions," Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper quotes fatwa.
In August 2017 the first trading platform for bitcoins was opened in Egypt, but in December the country’s temporal authorities outlawed the crypto currency.
An adviser to the Grand Mufti, Magdy Ashour, told in his interview with Egypt Today that bitcoin is used “directly to fund terrorists”.
In December a woman living in New York was charged with laundering bitcoins and other crypto-currencies and wiring the money to help the extremist group “Islamic State”.