FOHLE Finance tries new crypto investment the Shariah way

UPDATE 2nd September 2025: FOHLE Finance has ceased operations due to a funding shortfall

A new kind of high-tech Islamic crypto investment company is taking root on a decidedly old-fashioned principle: trust.

FOHLE Finance, a Singapore-based crypto wallet outfit, is seeking a formal Shariah certification to provide a haven for investors who want to dabble safely in digital assets without sacrificing their ethical standards.

“Since I started in crypto, I realized that it’s not an easy industry,” Founder and CEO Adria Roig shared with IFN Investor. “You know, we all know it’s full of scams and companies don’t tend to be fair with the users.”

The pursuit of safety is what led the company down a secure path aligned with the intricate tenets of Islamic finance. At its core, FOHLE is “non-custodial,” a fancy term for a simple idea: the company has no access to investors’ money. 

‘Users are their own banks’

That means, unlike large, centralized exchanges that hold user funds in a digital vault, FOHLE’s users are their own banks. They hold the keys, they control the assets and they are immune to the kind of digital raids that have plagued the industry in recent years. 

“Even if we want, we cannot touch the money of the users,” Adria said.

While the company is already structured in a Shariah compliant way, the formal process is now underway. “Before the end of the year we would be applying or starting the process,” Adria confirmed, adding that the timeline for completion though was uncertain. “I am not really sure how long this process will take.”

A core part of the company’s investment philosophy is its aversion to risk. On the roadmap is an "earning model" and a "debit card" to be launched as soon as next year.

“We see the Islamic world as a huge, underserved opportunity. A lot of the infrastructure there is still centralized and vulnerable. What we offer is a chance to elevate the user experience without compromising on ethical standards.”

The company’s roadmap is as ambitious as it is cautious. In the works are a crypto debit card, staking options and access to tokenized yield instruments such as US Treasury bills.

‘Realistic returns’ – forget 20-30%

Following a recent conference in Dubai, the firm has seen a surge of interest from ethical investors and Shariah compliant funds.

Even so Adria is quick to temper expectations on what investors would get from putting money in the app.

“We won’t offer 20-30% returns. That’s not realistic, and it’s not safe. We prefer to offer stable, risk-mitigated yields in the 3-5% range.”

The FOHLE CEO adds that the company itself isn’t chasing money. “We are not just looking for capital. We are looking for alignment. This is about building something that lasts.” This signals that for FOHLE Finance, trust, far from being an abstract concept, is a currency of its own.