
DeepSeek vs OpenAI: What Muslims Can Learn from This AI Battle
03 February 2025 4 min read
6 min read
Published:
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Adil Hussain
Content Manager
Just days before Donald Trump was inaugurated for the second time as US president, he was on social media announcing his own memecoin, $TRUMP coin. Let that sink in.
Imagine telling someone 10 years ago that the leader of the free world would be launching a digital token with no utility beyond fun and speculation—and that it would go on to be worth over $10 billion in a matter of days. The idea would’ve sounded absurd. Yet, this is the reality we face today, and it’s our job to help you make sense of it.
In this article, we’ll cut through the noise and demystify memecoins, explore whether they are halal, and determine if they’re a good investment for Muslims. Let’s dive in.
Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that derive their value primarily from internet culture, memes, and community hype, rather than any inherent utility or technological innovation. Unlike Bitcoin, which aims to function as digital gold, or Ethereum, which supports decentralised applications, memecoins are often created as jokes or to capitalise on viral trends.
The defining feature of memecoins is their reliance on community-driven speculation. Their prices tend to surge when they gain traction on social media platforms like Twitter or Reddit, often fuelled by influencers, memes, and the fear of missing out (FOMO). However, this also means that their value can crash just as quickly once the hype fades.
Dogecoin is the undisputed pioneer of memecoins, created in 2013 as a parody of the cryptocurrency craze. Its creators, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, wanted to poke fun at the rapid proliferation of cryptocurrencies at the time. They based the coin on the popular Shiba Inu “Doge” meme, which features a picture of the dog accompanied by Comic Sans text with phrases like “much wow” and “very crypto.”
Despite its humorous origins, Dogecoin quickly gained a loyal online community and in 2021, Dogecoin’s popularity skyrocketed when Elon Musk began tweeting about it, dubbing himself the “Dogefather.” The coin’s value surged, reaching a market cap of over $80 billion at its peak.
However, the hype was short-lived, and Dogecoin’s value collapsed soon after, wiping out much of the wealth for late investors. Although it has been making somewhat of a comeback this cycle with a market cap of ~$46 billion at the time of writing. While Dogecoin has been used for tipping online and as payment by some companies, its value remains largely driven by social media and speculation, making it a risky and unpredictable investment.
On January 17, 2025, just days before his second inauguration, President Donald Trump announced the launch of his own memecoin, $TRUMP coin, to celebrate winning the election.
It quickly exploded in popularity, catapulting $TRUMP into the top 100 cryptocurrencies (you can check out our halal version of this list here). Within just over a day, the value of each token reached a high of $75. However, the hype has since cooled, with the price dropping to approximately $26, translating to a market cap of $5 billion. Even so, this still puts $TRUMP coin in 29th place on the top 100 list—an impressive feat for a token less than a month old.
Not to be left out, the First Lady, Melania Trump, followed suit with her own memecoin launch. Unfortunately for her, $MELANIA coin didn’t achieve the same viral success. Currently, it ranks 149th, with a total market cap of approximately $400 million.
The launches haven’t been without controversy, with many questioning whether the Trump family is using their political brand to cash in on speculative hype. Ethical concerns have been raised about the potential risks to everyday investors, who could face heavy losses in the volatile world of memecoins. Add to that the sheer speed at which these coins have risen and fallen, and it’s no wonder some are sceptical about the long-term intentions behind $TRUMP coin and $MELANIA coin.
Before we address whether memecoins are halal, let’s take a step back and look at cryptocurrencies as a whole. We’ve already written on this matter here but in brief our view is that investing in crypto is halal as long as the project itself is halal. We also have an article covering the differing views of the permissibility of crypto.
Now, moving on specifically to memecoins. One of our resident scholars here Mufti Faraz has released an excellent video on memecoins (see here), where he makes the case that:
“According to Sharīʿah principles, an asset is something that inherently provides benefit and utility on its own, without reliance on external factors or third-party interactions. Value in Sharīʿah is not determined by merely being traded on an exchange. If the coin is not doing anything tangible and giving real world value and utility, then its use case is questionable, even if traded on the markets.”
His view essentially is that memecoins are very problematic from a shariah perspective due to the lack of utility, but he doesn’t go as far as to say they are impermissible.
IFG’s house view is similar. We do not view memecoins as haram, but neither do we consider them a particularly barakah-linked activity.
However, once a memecoin has genuinely transcended into a coin with a legitimate community around it, we can see the argument that the sharia ruling would then change and it can then be treated like other cryptocurrencies (because in reality, their technical structure is pretty much identical to many other ‘legitimate’ cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin – so we should then judge it on the structure, not its chaotic birthing origins).
Here’s the reality: memecoins are extremely risky, highly speculative, and should be approached with extreme caution.
That said, if you want to ignore our warnings and press ahead, consider the following:
If your goal is sustainable, halal wealth-building, there are far better alternatives out there. Consider focusing on established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum—or better yet, we have a relatively safer halal investments list here.
In particular if you’re interested in high-risk high-reward investments, we do suggest you check out venture capital investing in early-stage technology startups. You can learn about this investment class for free on our Ultimate Startup Course and you can hear about cool investment opportunities in this space when you join our shariah-compliant wealth manager: Cur8 Capital.
Memecoins like $TRUMP may seem like a thrilling opportunity to make quick cash, but the risks far outweigh the rewards for most investors. From an Islamic perspective, the speculative and gambling-like nature of these coins makes them highly problematic.
If you do choose to invest, treat it as entertainment rather than a serious financial strategy. Keep your exposure minimal and don’t rely on it to build wealth. For most people, avoiding memecoins altogether is the wisest choice.
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