First Digital USD
FDUSD#110FDUSD is a US dollar stablecoin from Hong Kong's First Digital group, meant to be redeemable 1:1 for dollars.
- Market cap
- $324.64M
- Volume 24h
- $297.81M
- All-time high
- —
- Circulating supply
- 325.04M
Passes our Shariah screening. Needs caution: excessive uncertainty (gharar). Fails: business model.
- 6 pass
- 1 caution
- 1 fail
Verdict history
- HalalCurrent
First publication
Fundamentals, market picture and news will appear here.
Halal analysis
Can a Muslim hold First Digital USD?8 Shariah criteria
6 pass · 1 caution · 1 failHolding FDUSD pays no interest; the reserve income stays with the issuer, but centralised platforms offer variable rewards on FDUSD balances.
Riba means interest or any fixed increase on a loan or on an exchange of money. FDUSD is a claim on the issuer redeemable at face value, and the income from its reserves stays with First Digital, so holding the token on-chain earns nothing. CryptoUmmah, the first authoritative source to rate FDUSD, lists riba as its main concern, but that concern is the interest earned on the reserves, which is judged under business model.
It also notes variable rewards offered on FDUSD through centralised platforms; these are opt-in products outside the token and are assessed under yield, but their existence lowers the score slightly within pass.
FDUSD is a redeemable claim on dollar reserves held in segregated accounts by a Hong Kong trust company.
FDUSD is meant to be redeemable 1:1 for US dollars and is backed by cash and cash-equivalent reserves held by First Digital Trust in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts. It is a real claim on an issuer, not an empty record. Malaysia's SC Shariah Advisory Council recognises digital currencies as property and classes currency-backed ones as currency; applying this to FDUSD is Liberandum's reading. CryptoUmmah's doubt concerns the reserves' interest and custody rather than the nature of the asset, and no body gives a reason specific to FDUSD, so the criterion gets the maximum score.
FDUSD is built to stay at US$1 and is used as a trading and settlement currency, not a bet on price.
Maysir means gambling, or gains that depend purely on chance. FDUSD traded at about $0.9988 on 1 October 2026 and is used as a dollar leg for trading, mainly on Binance. Nobody holds it to profit from price swings, and it has no lottery or chance-based feature, so the criterion gets the maximum score.
The reserves are Treasury bills, deposits and repurchase agreements, so the issuer's income from FDUSD is essentially interest, far above the 5% limit.
This criterion looks at how the company behind a token earns. If 5% or more of its income comes from clearly impermissible sources such as interest, the criterion fails. In April 2025 First Digital said every dollar backing FDUSD was held in US Treasury bills, and CryptoUmmah's July 2026 review describes the reserves as Treasury bills, government securities, fixed deposits and overnight repurchase agreements. All of these earn interest, and an issuer that pays holders nothing earns mainly from that interest.
CryptoUmmah rates FDUSD doubtful and asks for purification of 4.5–6.5% of profits for this reason. A fail here lowers the score but does not decide the verdict alone.
The custodian is entangled in a $456 million TrueUSD reserves dispute, FDUSD lost its peg in April 2025, and the latest attestation could not be checked.
Gharar means excessive uncertainty or lack of transparency in a deal. Reserves are described as simple instruments held in segregated accounts. But there are concrete concerns about the custodian. First Digital Trust held about $456 million of TrueUSD reserves for Techteryx that ended up in illiquid investments with Dubai-based Aria entities; a Dubai court froze $456 million linked to them in November 2025, and Techteryx alleges undisclosed commissions and loans of about $30.5 million directed by First Digital's CEO, which First Digital rejects.
In April 2025 FDUSD fell as much as 9% after Justin Sun called the trust insolvent; First Digital denied it. FDUSD reserves are not reported as affected, but First Digital's transparency page and whitepaper could not be opened for this review, and CryptoUmmah also scores gharar low (61.7) for custodial counterparty risk. The criterion is caution.
FDUSD is used mainly as a dollar trading pair and settlement currency on exchanges.
This criterion looks at what the asset is actually used for. FDUSD's main use is as a dollar leg for trading and moving value, chiefly on Binance, and it is held on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Sui and Solana. Exchange rewards and lending products exist, but no source shows that a notable share of supply sits in them; that remains a data gap rather than a concrete problem, so the criterion gets the maximum score.
FDUSD can be bought outright and held in full on exchanges or in a self-custody wallet.
This criterion asks whether the token can be owned in a normal, fully paid way. FDUSD trades spot, for example on Binance's FDUSD/USDT pair, and can be withdrawn to self-custody wallets on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Sui and Solana. It does not exist only as a leveraged or derivative product, so the criterion gets the maximum score.
FDUSD offers a dollar unit for on-chain settlement; the risks found are counted under uncertainty.
Maslahah weighs public benefit against harm. FDUSD gives traders and users a dollar unit that settles on several public blockchains. No source ties FDUSD to a notable share of scam or sanctions-evasion flows. The custodian dispute and the 2025 depeg are counted under gharar, not again here, so the criterion gets the maximum score.
How you can use it
Tap a card for the ruling and sourcesBuying FDUSD outright and holding it, on an exchange or in your own wallet, is acceptable for an asset rated HALAL. If FDUSD is treated as money, exchange it on the spot and at equal value when swapping for dollars or other stablecoins.
Not available: no exchange-traded fund holding FDUSD was found. A fund holding it would be judged like spot, and its structure would need checking separately (no interest income, no lending).
FDUSD can be used to pay and settle on-chain. Indonesia's MUI (tier 1) holds that using cryptocurrency as currency is haram, so paying with it is caution.
Not available natively: FDUSD is not a proof-of-stake coin, so there is no validation work to be paid for. Products marketed as 'FDUSD staking' or 'earn' pay returns from lending or reserve income, covered under lending and yield.
Always fail: borrowing to trade with leverage, without full delivery (AAOIFI SS 20).
Always fail: futures, perpetuals and options are deferred exchanges without delivery, usually with leverage (AAOIFI SS 20).
Lending FDUSD for a return, on DeFi protocols or exchange lending programmes, is interest on a loan of money (riba).
Exchange 'earn' products on FDUSD pay a percentage return on a dollar balance, funded by lending or reserve interest; this is treated as interest whatever it is called.
Scholars quotes
The opinion on this is the same as doing the same with any halal assets such as shares – 1) is permissible, 2) is more debatable and there are differing opinions on short-term trading.As I mentioned at the beginning of this article it is not necessary to substantiate the permissibility of something as long as there are no prohibited factors involved in it or surrounding it.Penggunaan cryptocurrency sebagai mata uang hukumnya haram, karena mengandung gharar (ketidakjelasan), dharar (bahaya) dan bertentangan dengan Undang-Undang nomor 7 tahun 2011 tentang Mata Uang dan Peraturan Bank Indonesia nomor 17 tahun 2015 tentang Kewajiban Penggunaan Rupiah di Wilayah Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia.Sebagaimana mata wang yang lain, mata wang digital hendaklah tidak digunakan sebagai bayaran kepada barangan, perkhidmatan dan aktiviti tidak patuh Syariah seperti pembelian dadah, pelacuran, perjudian dan pendanaan aktiviti keganasan serta penggubahan wang haram.The SAC has also resolved that investment and trading of Digital Assets that fulfil the above requirements and which are traded on Digital Asset Exchange (DAX) registered with SC are permissible.If a digital currency is backed by ribawi items comprising gold, silver and currency, it is categorised as a currency from Shariah perspective. Hence, the trading of such digital currency is subject to the principle of bai` al-sarf.Third: In light of the above and given the significant risks associated with this type of currencies and the instability of their transactions, the Council of the Academy recommends pursuing research and studies on issues affecting its ruling.Bitcoin is a digital currency that does not meet the legal and Sharia criteria that make it a currency subject to the rulings of dealing with official legal currencies recognized internationally.بناءً على ذلك: فلا يجوز شرعًا تداول عملة "البتكوين" والتعامل من خلالها بالبيعِ والشراءِ والإجارةِ وغيرها، بل يُمنع من الاشتراكِ فيها؛ لعدمِ اعتبارِها كوسيطٍ مقبولٍ للتبادلِ من الجهاتِ المخُتصَّةِ، ولِمَا تشتمل عليه من الضررِ الناشئ عن الغررِ والجهالةِ والغشِّ في مَصْرِفها ومِعْيارها وقِيمتها، فضلًا عما تؤدي إليه ممارستُها من مخاطرَ عاليةٍ على الأفراد والدول.According to research and opinion of experts so far, cryptocurrency is not considered ‘ maal ’ (wealth) in Sharia.Muhammadiyah memandang transaksi dan investasi kripto pada dasarnya mubah (boleh) tetapi dengan syarat tertentu.Our current position is 'tawaquf'; we can't say it is halal or haram, but we say it is better not to engage in itFiat-backed stablecoins are generally considered permissible, fully backed by the underlying currency or not, as long as this information is transparently disclosed to the users.AI-assisted analysis checked against sources. Not a fatwa or investment advice.
Where it trades
Section in preparation
Similar halal assets
Halal verdict, same category