Beyond Formal Compliance in Digital Gold Investment under Financial Technology through Maqasid al-Shariah

Abstract

The expansion of financial technology has transformed gold investment from physical ownership into digitally mediated financial claims, raising fundamental questions regarding ownership, possession, and Sharia compliance. Existing regulatory and scholarly approaches tend to assess compliance through formal legal criteria, often overlooking the substantive ethical objectives embedded in Islamic law. This study examines Sharia compliance in digital gold investment through a maqasid al-shariah framework to evaluate both its formal validity and its alignment with the protection of wealth. This research adopts a normative legal approach combining doctrinal analysis with maqasid-based evaluation to assess contemporary digital gold investment practices. The findings indicate that while digital gold investment structures may satisfy formal requirements by avoiding riba, gharar, and maysir, their compliance remains conditional when evaluated through maqasid considerations. The reliance on platform-based systems introduces systemic risks, including custodial dependency, technological vulnerability, and information asymmetry, which may undermine the objective of hifz al-mal. These risks reveal a gap between procedural compliance and substantive protection. This study argues for a shift from formalistic Sharia compliance toward an outcome-oriented evaluative framework grounded in maqasid al-shariah. By re-centering ethical objectives in financial assessment, the study contributes to ongoing debates on the regulation of digital financial instruments in Islamic finance.