- The Islamic Coin team explained how ISLAMIC was clearly different from ISLM.
- While early users were not satisfied, there could be more on the way for the HAQQ network.
In a world where every cryptocurrency project tells a unique story, Islamic Coin [ISLM] seems to have found itself caught in between being identified as a legit project with distinct fundamentals and another coin masquerading as the real ISLM.
This scenario was evident in last week’s PeckShield Alert post on X (formerly Twitter). From the post, the blockchain security handle claimed that the Islamic Coin launch was bad. This was because another token was thought to be the cryptocurrency plunged by 100%. Unfortunately, the blockchain security firm mistook another ISLM token launched on the BNB Chain for the HAQQ Network-developed project on 10 October.
#PeckShieldAlert #slippage Islamic Coin #Islamic on #BNBchain has dropped -100%
0xaBF3…B083 has swapped 1,000,000,000,000,000 $Islamic for 724.4 $BNB ($150,551.71) pic.twitter.com/Z0PUcGJqdJ
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) October 11, 2023
Amid FUD, we find the answers
While it is not unusual to see tokens spiring up because of a popular narrative, doing due diligence is also important. Following PeckShield Alert’s post, a number of media outlets spread the news that ISLM’s launch was disastrous. This also spread Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) around the community of the real token. However, AMBCrypto considered finding out if this rumor was true or not.
Viola! We found out that the ISLM token being talked about was one deployed by some unknown parties. This also happened at the detriment of unsuspecting buyers. Also, a look at CoinMarketCap’s data showed that the real ISLM had gained 61.19% in the last seven days.
Despite the clarity, there were also some irregularities that came with the launch. At some point, early adopters of the project criticized Islamic Coin for the worth of the reward distributed. Some also showed their displeasure at the criteria required for claiming their tokens.
As a way to get the real details of what went down, AMBCrypto spoke to one of Islamic Coin’s CEO and co-founder Alex Malkov. But before going into the details of the conversation, let’s look at what Islamic Coin really is.
Islamic Coin: A Shariah-compliant web3 project?
According to Islamic Coin’s official website, its mission is to onboard 1.9 billion Muslims into the digital asset world. And it aims to do this without compromising on the fundamentals of the faith. As the native currency of the HAQQ network, an ethics-first L1 blockchain, ISLM was built on the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus.
To pioneer the future of Islamic finance, the project noted that it offers interest-free investments. Also included was a host of other Sharia-compliant products. At the time of writing, Islamic Coin had a market cap of $29.66 billion with a total supply of ISLM tokens.
Back to the interview with Malkov, the first question thrown to the co-founder was to evaluate how he felt about the final Mainnet launch of the project. According to Malkov, Islamic Coin’s main objective is to onboard Muslims without compromising on their values. He said,
“The availability of ISLM to the public, especially to Muslims who seek to align their financial activities with their faith, means we are transforming lives and driving meaningful change.”
How the community came to be
As regards the blockchain, Malkov noted that there were several developments to come. He gave examples including the HAQQ blockchain, HAQQ wallet, Shariah Oracle, and Evergreen DAO.
For context, the Evergreen DAO is a key council of the Haqq network. It also acts as a non-profit virtual foundation focused on long-term sustainability and community impact for the project. Besides the DAO activity, another area where Islamic Coin has thrived is with its community. For a project that only launched recently, having 1.3 million followers on X must have taken a lot of hard work.
Curious about how the project did, AMBCrypto asked Malkov to give some insights. In his response, Malkov mentioned that its focus was to engage mostly Muslim-dominated nations. In doing this, it was able to get five out of the top 20 countries in the Crypto Adoption Index on its side.
These countries include Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Morocco, and Turkey (where it claims over half of the population invests in ISLM). However, the CEO highlighted that the sentiment around the project was not the only factor that drove investors to it.
He mentioned that Islamic Coin is a 360-degree financial ecosystem designed to bridge the gap between crypto-savvy and non-crypto audiences. He added that it does this by offering ethical and practical solutions to modern economic challenges. To put it in clear terms, Malkov told AMBCrypto:
“From social media interactions to healthcare services, our platform serves as a versatile financial tool. This makes it appealing not just to those who adhere to Islamic values but also to anyone interested in a financial system that emphasizes transparency, ethics, and charity.”
“ISLAMIC is not ISLM”
On the matter of being linked with a rug pull project, the co-founder noted that its ticker “ISLM” was clearly different. From the PeckShield Alert tweet, the ticker for the failed token was “ISLAMIC.” He also mentioned that at no point was ISLM trading on the BNB Chain. At press time, Kucoin was the only exchange where the cryptocurrency was listed.
? #ISLM Token is now available for trading on @kucoincom!
Explore rewarding events and trade #ISLM now: https://t.co/2I8PMcQJlv
More exchanges to come. pic.twitter.com/mEnR06kapi
— Islamic Coin (@Islamic_Coin) October 10, 2023
In addition, Malkov pointed out that the incident was very unfortunate, especially as it came from a “trusted” source. He also advised its community to try and verify any news before spreading it. He said,
“For an industry such as crypto where volatility is commonplace, mischaracterizations and errors such as this could have damning consequences on any project, ours not exempted.”
As a way to mitigate such recurrence, Malkov noted that Islamic Coin has created a news feed on the HAQQ wallet. Here, its users can get verified information. But there was still one part that Islamic Coin needed to clear the air about. This was the was part of its reward distribution program.
Not what the community expected
Besides the reasons Malkov listed, one undeniable ground for its massive social media following was because of its promise to reward early adopters. As a result, the crypto community from the countries listed earlier flocked to the HAQQ network and took part in activity using the network. This was done with the hope that the project would give rewards back to the community like Arbitrum [ARB] and a few others had done.
However, a large number of its users were either dissatisfied with the tokens received or the criteria listed for qualification. Some also mentioned how they experienced difficulties in claiming the tokens. A look at the comments on X showed that the qualified users expected more from a project they claimed raised $400 million.
Not yet received pic.twitter.com/OV5zzOPvRA
— RJ |Full Force |? | .lens | ??.fuel | ?|? ? (@lakshithaprasa9) October 16, 2023
Meanwhile, Malkov spoke to the AMBCrypto on the subject. According to him, the apprehension around its airdrop strategy was not necessary. This was because it had upcoming plans in place for its community. For instance, he talked about a one-month cliff for claiming tokens, In another, he disclosed that there was a six-month unlock program, saying that,
“Whilst there will be some apprehension around our airdrop strategy it’s to incentivise our community participation and longevity. We directly wanted to sift through those that are here to earn a quick cheap buck, to those that want to help us pioneer a future for ethical finance.”
Could there be more in waiting?
In terms of ISLM’s price action, Malkov said that developing HAQQ as a chain for several utilities was much more important than the token value. This was because Islamic Coin was more concerned about remaining relevant for a long time rather than being a cash grab. With respect to this, he mentioned that Islamic Coin would also be creating ideas around impacting people’s lives beyond web3.
Lastly, Malkov made a few pointers about the project’s roadmap. While he opined that building in the current market was challenging, he also reiterated that the project is dedicated to following its roadmap religiously.
Some of the developments he mentioned were an $ISLM-backed Mastercard and a crypto-fiat processing services. He also added that a gold-pegged stablecoin developed in collaboration with UAE banks was in the works. For developers, there was a $40 million grant with HAQQPads and HAQQ Labs, and as such,
“We will be aggressively onboarding developers building innovative solutions. The idea is to have dApps that fulfill the everyday needs of the Muslim and ethical finance community all on HAQQ with Islamic Coin as the fuel for these innovations to thrive.”
In the meantime, Islamic Coin’s official X page gave a rundown of its performance in Q3 which can be accessed below.
The #IslamicCoin and #HAQQ ecosystem expanded considerably in the previous quarter, thanks to the continued support of our esteemed community ?
A quick recap of the notable partnerships forged by #IslamicCoin & @the_haqqnetwork in Q3 & Q2 ?
— Islamic Coin (@Islamic_Coin) October 16, 2023
