Mufti Muhammad Abu-Bakar

The single most widely cited scholarly work declaring Bitcoin permissible is "Shariah Analysis of Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, and Blockchain", authored by Mufti Muhammad Abu-Bakar and published by Blossom Labs, Inc. in April 2018. Abu-Bakar bridges this gap by citing contemporary Hanafi authorities — including Mufti Taqi Usmani himself — who expanded the definition through the principle of urf (custom). If intangible things like copyrights and trademarks can be mal because society treats them as valuable, Abu-Bakar argues, so can Bitcoin: it is desirable, storable in digital wallets, and widely accepted for exchange. He introduced a jurisdictional framework with three tiers. Where cryptocurrency is government-banned, dealing in it is impermissible. Where regulators are silent or cautionary, it is permissible. Where regulators have accepted crypto as a financial asset or alternative currency, it is clearly permissible.