In a landmark development for fintech and Islamic finance alike, Fasset has secured a provisional license from Malaysia’s Labuan Financial Services Authority (FSA) enabling the firm to roll out a stablecoin-powered “Islamic digital bank.” The move marks one of the first attempts to blend Shariah-compliance with crypto-enabled banking services under a regulated framework.
According to Fasset, the license grants it permission to operate within a regulated sandbox focused on Islamic-compliant financial products. The company, headquartered in Dubai, describes itself as an “all-in-one financial super app” and says this approval paves the way for it to launch deposit services, cross-border payments, and zero-interest banking solutions.
“We can now combine the credibility of a global banking institution with the innovation of a fintech insurgent that’s fully halal,” said Fasset CEO Mohammad Raafi Hossain in the official press release.
Why This Matters
Islamic finance is governed by Shariah law, which prohibits the charging of interest (riba), frowns upon excessive uncertainty (gharar), and bars investment in certain sectors deemed unethical—such as alcohol, gambling, or pornography. For many Muslims, that makes standard banking products off-limits, or at least uneasy from a religious perspective.
By marrying blockchain / stablecoin technology with Shariah principles, Fasset seeks to offer a new class of financial services, especially targeted at underserved markets across Asia and Africa. The license, however, is for operation under the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC), a regulated offshore center in Malaysia. It does not amount to a full Malaysian digital banking license from Bank Negara Malaysia.
Still, this approval is significant: it provides Fasset legal cover to experiment with crypto-enabled Islamic financial services under regulated oversight.
Fasset’s Future Plans
Under the new license, Fasset says it will roll out:
-
Deposit-taking services
-
Cross-border payments
-
Zero–interest banking, structured to comply with Shariah norms
In addition, the company has teased some ambitious moves already underway. It plans to issue a crypto debit card to facilitate everyday spending. It is also working on “Own,” an Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Arbitrum designed to settle real-world assets.
Globally, Fasset already counts more than half a million users across 125 countries. It offers a mix of products, including digital savings, yield-generating instruments, and access to U.S. stocks, gold, and cryptocurrencies. The company has also obtained licenses in the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, and the European Union.
Fasset has cited the success of Nubank, a Brazilian fintech, as inspiration. The plan is to take a similar playbook into regions where banking access remains limited.
Ecosystem Ripples: Stablecoins and Cross-Border Payments
The timing of Fasset’s license is interesting, coming as stablecoins gain more attention from major financial players. Just last month, Visa launched a pilot program enabling banks to pre-fund cross-border payments using Circle’s USDC and EURC stablecoins.
Swift, the global interbank messaging network, is also collaborating with Consensys and more than 30 financial institutions to build a blockchain-based settlement platform that enables 24/7 real-time cross-border transactions.
These developments suggest demand is rising for more efficient, digital-native infrastructure to move value across borders. Fasset’s model, if it works, could be a bridge between the traditional banking world and digital finance, especially in Muslim-majority regions where Shariah compliance is a key concern.
The Broader Implication
Fasset’s move reflects a growing trend: the convergence of blockchain, fintech innovation, and purpose-driven finance (e.g. ESG, social finance, religious finance). It shows how finance is no longer one-size-fits-all; niches like Islamic banking are being reimagined in digital form.
If successful, Fasset’s model could serve as a template for other markets. Think of Nigeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan—countries with significant Muslim populations and large underbanked segments. A digital Islamic bank powered by stablecoins could reach those populations more easily than building brick-and-mortar branches everywhere.
This also may nudge more traditional regulators to consider sandbox regimes or pilot frameworks that allow non-traditional financial providers to experiment. Malaysia’s Labuan FSA is already recognized for being forward-thinking in its approach to fintech and offshore structures.
Fasset’s provisional license from the Labuan FSA marks a bold experiment in marrying the promise of blockchain technology with the ethical constraints of Islamic finance. Over the coming months, all eyes will be on how the company executes, whether it can attract trust, scale responsibly, and maintain strict compliance with both regulators and religious doctrine.
If it succeeds, it could alter the landscape of Islamic finance, influence how regulators view crypto-based banking, and open new financial pathways in markets long underserved. If it stumbles, critics will point to regulatory risk, technical complexity, and the perennial trust hurdle that plagues the crypto space.
In any case, Fasset’s move is one of the more exciting crossroads in fintech today, where digital innovation meets centuries-old financial principles.
