Halal Vault is an interest-free digital asset-backed lending platform built on Islamic finance principles — specifically the Qard Hasan (benevolent loan) and Rahn (pledge) contracts. You lock your digital assets as collateral, receive a loan equal to up to 50% of their value, and repay only the exact principal. Zero interest, ever.
While rooted in Islamic law, Halal Vault is designed for everyone — any person who wants transparent, ethical, interest-free access to liquidity without selling their digital assets.
No. Halal Vault is open to everyone, regardless of religion, background, or identity. Shariah compliance is the structural and legal framework that makes the product fair, transparent, and free of interest — values that benefit any borrower.
The ethical finance principles underlying Halal Vault — no exploitation, no hidden charges, no compounding debt — are universal. You do not need to be Muslim to benefit from them.
Phase 1 launches simultaneously in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. These markets were chosen to establish dual-market regulatory infrastructure from Day 1 — two distinct legal environments, two datasets, one unified platform.
Global expansion — including Southeast Asia, the Gulf, North America, and beyond — follows based on regulatory approvals and phase traction data. If you are outside Nigeria and the UK, join the waitlist and select your region. We will notify you when your market opens.
Halal Vault is structured to operate under applicable financial services regulations in each Phase 1 jurisdiction. Nigeria and UK regulatory filings are part of Tranche 1 of our seed round milestones. Our compliance framework — including KYC/AML — is designed to be jurisdiction-extensible from the outset.
Shariah compliance is independently reviewed by our Shariah advisory board. A formal written Shariah opinion will be published upon completion of the review process.
Qard Hasan — literally "a good loan" or "a beautiful loan" — is the only form of lending explicitly endorsed in the Qur'an. The lender provides the borrower with principal, and the borrower is obligated to return only that exact principal. No increment, no interest, no addition of any kind.
The word Hasan (good, beautiful) reflects the spirit of the transaction: it is an act of facilitation, not an opportunity for profit at the borrower's expense. Halal Vault structures every loan facility under this contract.
Rahn is the Islamic contract of pledge — a form of collateralisation validated by the Qur'an and the Sunnah and practised in Islamic commercial law for over 1,400 years. You pledge your digital assets as security against your Qard Hasan facility. Ownership of those assets remains with you throughout the loan period.
When you repay in full, the Rahn pledge is discharged and your assets are returned immediately. The assets are never traded, lent to third parties, staked, or rehypothecated during the pledge period.
Riba refers to any unjustified increase in a financial transaction — most commonly interest. It is explicitly prohibited in the Qur'an (2:275, 2:278, 3:130, 4:161) and the Sunnah. The prohibition is not merely religious observance — it reflects a deep principle against exploitation: that money should not generate more money through the passage of time alone, at the expense of a borrower.
Conventional loans charge Riba. Halal Vault's Qard Hasan structure eliminates it entirely. The borrower returns only what they received.
Shariah compliance is independently reviewed by our Shariah advisory board, drawing on established scholarship in Islamic commercial law.
Our Shariah advisory board has reviewed the Qard Hasan and Rahn contract structure and the fee architecture. A formal written Shariah opinion will be published upon completion of the full review. For more on the framework, visit our Ethical Finance page.
The permissibility of digital assets under Islamic law is a subject of ongoing scholarly discussion, with a growing body of opinion recognising BTC, ETH, and certain stablecoins as valid stores of value and media of exchange — and therefore eligible for use in Shariah-compliant financial contracts.
Halal Vault's Shariah review includes the question of digital asset permissibility as part of the Rahn collateral analysis. Our scholarly advisor's formal opinion will address this explicitly. We operate on the basis that the assets we accept have recognised value and are used as collateral — a function well-established in Islamic commercial law.
Phase 1 accepts three digital assets as Rahn collateral: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT). These were selected for their liquidity depth, global exchange coverage, and price transparency.
Additional digital assets will be added following launch, subject to Shariah review and custody partner support. If you hold assets not currently listed, join the waitlist and indicate your holdings — this data directly informs our asset roadmap.
Your digital assets are held as Rahn collateral in a multi-custody architecture across Binance (primary) and ByBit (secondary). They are held in ring-fenced, segregated accounts — entirely separate from Halal Vault's operational funds.
During the loan period, your assets are: never traded, never staked, never lent to third parties, and never rehypothecated. They sit as pure security and are returned the moment your principal repayment is confirmed.
Halal Vault operates a conservative maximum LTV of 50%. This means for every $1,000 of digital assets you pledge, you can access up to $500 in liquidity. The 50% ceiling provides a significant price buffer — your collateral must lose half its value before any margin action is triggered.
You may choose to borrow less than the maximum. A lower LTV means greater protection against collateral value fluctuations and reduces the likelihood of receiving margin alerts.
If the value of your pledged digital assets falls toward the margin threshold, Halal Vault will notify you in advance with clear options. You may:
1. Top up your collateral — deposit additional digital assets to restore a healthy LTV ratio. The Rahn pledge updates accordingly and your loan continues uninterrupted.
2. Partially repay — reduce your outstanding principal to bring the LTV back within range.
3. Speak with our team — discuss your situation and explore available options.
Partial liquidation is a last resort, applied only if the margin is breached and no remedial action is taken. It is handled transparently, in accordance with the Rahn contract terms reviewed by our Shariah advisor.
Yes. You may top up your collateral at any time during the loan period — either to restore LTV after a price decline, or proactively to increase your buffer. The updated pledge is reflected in your account immediately. You may also request an increase in your loan facility subject to the revised collateral value and LTV ceiling.
Halal Vault charges two fees only:
1. Flat Facility Fee — charged once at disbursement, tiered by loan facility size. This is a fixed administrative charge, not a percentage of principal, and does not change regardless of how long you hold the loan.
Facility Renewal: If you cannot repay at maturity, you may apply to restructure your facility. The existing Qard Hasan contract is formally closed and a new contract is issued with a revised maturity date. The standard flat facility fee applies to the new contract — it is a charge for a new service, not a charge for time, which distinguishes it from Riba. There is no fee for requesting a renewal; the fee applies only if a new facility is approved and disbursed.
There are no hidden fees, no recurring charges, no compounding costs, and zero interest — ever.
No — and the distinction is structural, not semantic. Interest (Riba) is a return on capital that scales with time, principal, or both. It accrues, compounds, and grows. A flat facility fee is a fixed administrative charge for a defined service: it does not change whether you hold the loan for one week or six months, and it bears no mathematical relationship to the size of your principal relative to cost of capital.
This distinction is reviewed and validated by our Shariah advisory board, whose written opinion will be published upon completion of the review process.
The full facility fee schedule is detailed on our How It Works page. The tier structure ranges from Retail (smallest facilities) to Institutional (custom pricing). All fees are disclosed upfront before any loan is confirmed — there are no surprises at disbursement.
The final fee schedule is subject to completion of our Shariah review. Any adjustment will be communicated to waitlist members before platform launch.
No. The facility fee is charged once at disbursement and is fixed. It does not change, increase, or compound over the life of the loan. The fee you see at the time of application is the fee you pay — nothing more.
Phase 1 eligibility requires:
Residency — you must be a resident of Nigeria or the United Kingdom.
Age — you must be 18 years or older.
Identity — you must be able to complete KYC verification with a valid government-issued ID and proof of address.
Digital assets — you must hold BTC, ETH, or USDT eligible for use as Rahn collateral.
There are no credit score requirements. No income verification. No employment check. Collateral is the only security Halal Vault requires.
No. Halal Vault does not perform credit checks. The Rahn collateral model means your digital assets — not your credit history — secure the loan. This makes Halal Vault accessible to individuals who may be underserved by conventional credit systems, including those without a formal credit history.
KYC verification typically takes 5–10 minutes. Once verified, collateral transfer and loan approval are designed for same-day processing. Disbursement follows confirmation of collateral receipt.
Exact processing times may vary depending on network conditions and verification queue at launch. Waitlist members will receive onboarding guides detailing the full timeline before Phase 1 opens.
The minimum facility size corresponds to the Retail tier — small-scale loans accessible to individuals. The maximum for standard facilities is within the Corporate tier. Institutional-scale facilities above the Corporate ceiling are available with custom pricing and a direct engagement process.
Exact minimum and maximum amounts in NGN, GBP, and USD will be published in the full fee schedule prior to Phase 1 launch.
Repayment is made via your Halal Vault account dashboard on or before your maturity date. You repay the exact principal amount — no more, no less. Upon confirmed repayment, your collateral is released from the Rahn pledge and returned to your designated wallet immediately.
If you need additional time, you may apply for a Facility Renewal before your maturity date. The existing facility is formally closed and a new Qard Hasan contract is issued with a new maturity date. The flat facility fee applies to the new contract. This is not an extension fee — it is the origination fee for a new facility, charged for a defined service rather than for the granting of additional time.
Halal Vault handles personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws in Nigeria and the United Kingdom (including the UK GDPR). KYC documents are processed through regulated verification providers and are not stored longer than legally required. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.
Collateral may only be moved under two clearly defined circumstances — both governed by the Rahn contract terms disclosed at loan origination: (1) upon full repayment, when assets are released back to you; or (2) in the event of a margin breach after notification and no remedial action, where a partial liquidation may be required to cover the outstanding principal. All other collateral movement is contractually prohibited.
Collateral is held in segregated accounts ring-fenced from Halal Vault's operational funds. In the event of platform insolvency or cessation, collateral is not co-mingled with company assets and is subject to return to borrowers through the applicable insolvency or wind-down process. Specific custody and insolvency protection terms will be detailed in the loan agreement signed at origination.
Join the waitlist for Phase 1 access. Nigeria and the UK launch first. Global markets follow.