Is Arcus (ARCUS) Halal or Haram?
SUMMARY
The Arcus project is primarily a decentralized exchange for highly leveraged perpetual futures, which is an impermissible business activity. Consequently, receiving and holding its points or future tokens is considered Haram. While a user could technically join the waitlist using only permissible social tasks, the underlying project's core focus on derivatives renders participation impermissible.
Verdict by Activity
How you can hold and use ARCUS
Buy & Hold
The underlying project is a decentralized exchange primarily focused on highly leveraged perpetual futures, making its token impermissible to hold.
Connect X (Twitter) and follow
Connecting social accounts is a permissible administrative task.
Connect Web3 wallet
Connecting a wallet is a neutral, permissible action.
Connect wallets with perps history
OptionalThis task explicitly rewards users for a history of impermissible perpetual futures trading.
Refer other traders
OptionalEarning a percentage of referrals' trading fees is highly problematic as the platform primarily facilitates impermissible perps trading.
Trade Stock Tokens on Spot Beta
OptionalTrading spot stocks may be permissible depending on the underlying asset, but caution is advised on a derivatives-focused platform.
Trade perpetual futures in Perps Beta
OptionalTrading perpetual futures with leverage is strictly impermissible.
Shariah Component Breakdown
Shariah Analysis
Application — what it does
FailedArcus is a decentralized exchange offering cross-margined perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage, which constitutes impermissible derivative trading.
Asset — what you own
FailedThe points and future tokens are directly tied to a platform whose primary revenue and utility stem from impermissible perpetual futures trading.
Revenue Purity
CautionWhile a halal path exists to join the waitlist via social tasks, optional tasks explicitly reward impermissible perpetuals trading.
Legitimacy & Security
whitepaper
PassedThe project has official documentation and a website detailing its mechanics.
social presence
PassedThe project maintains an active waitlist and social presence on X (Twitter).
project audits
PassedThe project's rootchain contracts have been audited by OpenZeppelin.
Team & Ecosystem
team background
PassedThe core team stems from dYdX Labs and is partnered with Robinhood Crypto.
Detailed Shariah Report
Overview
Arcus is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that offers trading in tokenized stocks and cross-margined perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage. The project is currently running a points and waitlist campaign where users complete various tasks to earn potential future airdrop allocations.
Why This Verdict
The overall verdict for Arcus is Haram. Holding: Receiving and holding Arcus points or future tokens is impermissible because the underlying project is primarily a decentralized exchange focused on highly leveraged perpetual futures, which violates Shariah principles against riba (interest) and maisir (gambling). Mechanisms: The campaign involves several tasks with varying rulings. Connecting a Web3 wallet and linking an X (Twitter) account are mandatory administrative tasks considered Halal. However, optional tasks are highly problematic. Connecting wallets with a history of perpetuals trading on platforms like dYdX or Hyperliquid, and actively trading perpetual futures in the Arcus Perps Beta, are strictly Haram. Referring other traders to earn a percentage of their trading fees is Doubtful, as the platform facilitates impermissible derivatives trading. Trading stock tokens on the Spot Beta is also Doubtful, as it requires caution on a derivatives-focused platform.
Permissible Aspects
- The mandatory administrative tasks to join the waitlist, such as connecting an X (Twitter) account and a Web3 wallet, are neutral and permissible actions.
- The platform aggregates verifiable on-chain history without requiring deceptive practices to participate.
Points of Caution
- !The core business of Arcus relies on cross-margined perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage, which involves impermissible elements of riba (interest) and maisir (excessive speculation).
- !The campaign explicitly rewards users for having a past history of impermissible perpetual futures trading on other platforms.
- !The referral program compensates users with a percentage of trading fees generated by referred users, meaning income is derived from facilitating impermissible derivatives trading.
Purification Note
As the core business activity and the token itself are deemed Haram, participation in the airdrop and holding the token are impermissible. Therefore, purification is not applicable; the entire asset should be avoided.
BOTTOM LINE
Arcus is a decentralized exchange heavily focused on leveraged perpetual futures, making its core business incompatible with Islamic finance principles. While users can technically join the waitlist using permissible social tasks, the points and future tokens are directly tied to an impermissible derivatives platform. Scrupulous Muslim investors should avoid participating in this airdrop campaign and refrain from holding its tokens. Please consult a qualified Shariah scholar for final religious guidance.
How this verdict was reached
This is not an opinion issued by ShariaQuant. It is the output of a documented screening methodology applied to researched facts about Arcus (ARCUS), and every row above states the specific evidence that drove it — so the reasoning can be examined rather than taken on trust.
The framework screens three layers — the infrastructure an asset runs on, the application it serves, and the asset itself — and separately tests whether the token qualifies as recognised property (māl): that it presently exists, has an ascertainable supply, can be held and transferred, and carries a genuine lawful use. A failure at any single layer fails the asset.
Revenue-purity thresholds follow the AAOIFI screening standard: non-compliant income below 5% of revenue is tolerated and purified, while 5% or above fails the screen.
The framework follows published scholarship rather than in-house opinion. Treating a digital asset as a right (ḥaqq) that becomes recognised property (māl) only on stated conditions follows “Is Crypto Halal? The Definitive Shariah Guide to Crypto and Digital Assets” by Mufti Faraz Adam (Amanah Advisors, 2026), which reproduces the conditions identified by Mufti Taqi Usmani. Financial thresholds follow the AAOIFI screening standard. The rulings we track are collected in the fatwa library.
AAOIFI has not reviewed, approved or endorsed this report or ShariaQuant, and no scholar named in our methodology has reviewed this individual verdict. This is analysis, not a fatwa — final religious authority rests with a qualified scholar.
Is Arcus a serious project?
Permissible is not the same as good. This is the research behind that second question — what Arcus is actually for, who is paying for it, what is already built, and what would have to go wrong.
Research on the project, not advice on the trade. A high fundamental score is not a recommendation to buy, and it says nothing about whether the asset is permissible — that is the Shariah verdict, and it is free.
How Arcus ranks against its peers
The Shariah verdict tells you whether you may own Arcus. This tells you what you would be holding — measured from market data, with no AI judgment in it, and compared only against assets of the same kind.
A ranking of how solid an asset is against its peers, not a forecast of what it will do next and not investment advice. A permissible asset can rank badly, and a badly ranked asset can still rise.
About Arcus
The Arcus project is primarily a decentralized exchange for highly leveraged perpetual futures, which is an impermissible business activity. Consequently, receiving and holding its points or future tokens is considered Haram. While a user could technically join the waitlist using only permissible social tasks, the underlying project's core focus on derivatives renders participation impermissible.
Asked alongside this
Short answers from the ShariaQuant team.
All answersSo what do you hold instead?
A haram verdict is a starting point, not an ending. The harder questions are how to exit something you already hold and how to find what does pass. The free module starts there.
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