Halal crypto list 2026: what the official Malaysian list says, and how to screen the rest

Search for a "halal crypto list" and you will find dozens, many of them undated and some published by exchanges that earn a fee when you buy the coins they list. One list stands apart. It comes from the Shariah body of a national securities regulator, and it shows the date of every decision. This article sets out that list exactly, explains what it does and does not tell you, and shows how to think about the thousands of tokens no official body has assessed.

The official list: SC Malaysia's 15 Shariah-compliant digital currencies

In Malaysia, digital currencies and tokens that meet the criteria of a 2019 prescription order are treated as securities, regulated by the Securities Commission (SC). The SC's Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) is the body that issues Shariah rulings for the Malaysian capital market. On its digital assets page, the SC publishes a "List of Tradeable Digital Assets on Regulated Exchanges in Malaysia and the Shariah Status". As of 12 October 2026, fifteen assets on that list carry the status "Shariah-compliant":

Three notes help you read it correctly:

• Polygon. The SC table still shows the ticker MATIC. Polygon began migrating its token from MATIC to POL on 4 September 2024. If this matters to you, ask your exchange how it treats POL in relation to the SAC status.
• Eight more assets, no compliant status. The same table lists Synthetix (SNX), Maker (MKR), Curve DAO (CRV), Aave (AAVE), Near (NEAR), Algorand (ALGO), Hedera (HBAR) and The Graph (GRT) as tradeable on regulated exchanges, without a "Shariah-compliant" status. That is not a declaration that they are non-compliant; the table simply shows no compliant status for them. Alongside these rows the SC states that, from 30 March 2026, exchange operators who intend to offer Shariah-compliant digital currencies must obtain SAC endorsement, under paragraph 38.07 of its revised Guidelines on Islamic Capital Market Products and Services.
• No stablecoins. USDT and other dollar stablecoins do not appear in the table. We look at why that question is harder in Is USDT halal?

How the SAC reaches its decisions

The SAC set out its framework at its 233rd and 234th meetings, on 29 June and 20 July 2020. In summary:

• Digital currency is recognised as maal (wealth), because it is valuable, accepted by the public wholly or partly, and can be possessed.
• A digital currency with no underlying asset is classed as goods ('urudh), not currency, so the rules of currency exchange (bai' al-sarf) do not apply to trading it.
• A digital currency backed by gold, silver or currency is treated as currency, and trading it is subject to sarf.
• For a digital token, the money raised must be used for Shariah-compliant purposes and the rights attached must be Shariah-compliant. Mixed activities are judged using the SAC's existing benchmarks for listed companies.
• Investing in and trading digital assets that meet these requirements, on exchanges registered with the SC, is permissible.

The resolution states plainly that it does not apply to digital assets outside the SC's jurisdiction. That one sentence explains much of what follows.

What the list does not tell you

• It is not a buy list. A compliant status means the SAC considers the asset permissible to hold and trade on a regulated exchange. It says nothing about price, risk, or whether the asset suits you.
• It is not a global consensus. Scholars who hold that crypto is not wealth at all, such as the signatories of the Darul Uloom Karachi fatwa of June 2026, would not accept any crypto list. Our map of scholarly positions shows the full range.
• Absence is not a verdict. The SAC has assessed assets that are tradeable on Malaysian regulated exchanges. A token missing from the list has usually not been assessed, which is different from being found impermissible.
• It covers the asset, not your method. A listed coin bought with leverage, traded through a perpetual contract, or lent out for yield raises separate questions. See Is staking halal? and Is day trading halal?
• It is a status at a date. Projects change their supply rules, governance and use of funds. A decision from 2020 reflects what was known in 2020.

Why halal crypto lists disagree

You may see a coin marked halal on one site and doubtful on another. The reason is usually one of these:

• Different questions. The SAC asks whether an asset is maal, whether it is goods or currency, and whether its proceeds and rights are compliant. MUI in Indonesia asks for a clear underlying and a clear benefit. Each method can produce a different answer for the same token.
• Different premises about crypto itself. If a screener's scholars treat crypto as money, every swap between coins becomes a currency exchange with stricter conditions. If they treat it as goods, it does not.
• Different scope. A regulator's list covers what it regulates. A global website may try to rate everything, with far less depth per asset.
• Different dates. A list compiled in 2021 and never revisited can be badly out of date by 2026.
• Different incentives. Exchanges and affiliate sites earn when you trade. That does not make them wrong, but it is a reason to ask who wrote the list, who reviewed it, and how they are paid.
• Different transparency. Some lists show their reasoning and the name of the reviewing scholar. Others show only a green tick.

Trust a halal list in proportion to how much of its reasoning it shows you.

How to screen the rest: Deengen's five questions

For the many tokens no official body has assessed, we use five questions. They organise your thinking and give you something concrete to take to a scholar. They are not a fatwa. The full detail, including how we score and when we mark an asset for review, is in our methodology, and the screener applies them asset by asset with the reasoning shown.

1. Riba: is interest built in anywhere?

Look at how the token creates value for holders. Lending protocols that pay depositors from borrowers' interest, "yield" that is really a share of loan income, and stablecoins minted against debt with a fee all raise riba concerns. A token that pays nothing and is not a debt claim usually passes this question; the risk then shifts to how you use it.

2. Gharar: do you know what you own?

You should be able to say what the token is, what rights it carries, how new supply is created and who controls it. Hidden minting powers, unaudited contracts, unclear claims on a company or a treasury, and marketing that cannot be checked are all signs of excessive uncertainty in the thing being sold.

3. Maysir: is the value driven by chance?

Some tokens exist mainly to be bet on: launches with no product, lottery or prize mechanics, or tokens of gambling platforms. When the main way to gain is for someone else to lose, with no real exchange of value in between, the token sits close to gambling whatever its branding says.

4. Backing: what stands behind it?

For a network coin, the answer may be the security and use of the network. For an asset-backed token, it should be a real, audited and redeemable asset. For some tokens, the honest answer is nothing at all. Scholars weigh this question differently, which is one reason lists diverge, so be clear which view your scholar takes.

5. Use-case: what is it for?

Ask what the project does with its money and what the token is used for. A token whose main purpose is a prohibited activity, such as interest-based lending or gambling, fails here regardless of the other answers. This mirrors the SAC's test of how proceeds are used and what rights the token gives.

Passing a screen is not a buy signal

A token can pass all five questions and still be a poor fit for you. It may be highly volatile, thinly traded, controlled by a few large holders, or simply more risk than your circumstances allow. A Shariah screen asks "may I?". Whether you should is a separate question about risk, time horizon and your wider finances, and where it matters, a licensed adviser should help you answer it. Deengen never tells anyone to buy, sell or hold an asset.

Two practical follow-ons are easy to forget. If you hold permissible crypto, zakat may be due on it; our guide to zakat on crypto and the zakat calculator walk through the approaches. And a listed asset does not settle the question for the single most-searched coin; Is Bitcoin halal? covers its specific debate.

Using an official list responsibly

• Check the status on the SC's own page before relying on any copy of it, including this one.
• Confirm that your scholar accepts the SAC's approach. Many do; some do not.
• Look at your method as well as the asset: spot ownership, staking, lending and leverage are different contracts.
• Note the decision date, and look for updates when a project changes materially.
• Keep market context separate from Shariah status. Our markets page gives context without calls.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Last updated: 12 Oct 2026. List checked against the SC Malaysia digital assets page on 12 Oct 2026.

• SC Malaysia, List of Tradeable Digital Assets on Regulated Exchanges in Malaysia and the Shariah Status: sc.com.my/digital-assets
• SC Malaysia SAC, 233rd and 234th meetings (29 Jun and 20 Jul 2020): Digital Assets from Shariah Perspective (PDF)
• SC Malaysia: FAQ on Digital Assets from Shariah Perspective (PDF)
• SAC 2020 announcement: The Edge Malaysia
• Polygon MATIC to POL migration: Polygon Labs announcement, as reported by KuCoin
• MUI Ijtima Ulama VII (Nov 2021): detikFinance, 11 Nov 2021
• Darul Uloom Karachi fatwa (Jun 2026): Dawn, 10 Jul 2026