HCS Score
Red Line Violations
These are absolute prohibitions in Islamic finance. If any red line is triggered, the asset is automatically classified as HARAM.
Riba Exposure
Not an interest-based lending or borrowing protocol
Gambling / Betting
No gambling or betting mechanism
Haram Industry
Not involved in haram industry
Based on Red Line Screening and HCS Scoring.
Haram / Non Compliant
This cryptocurrency is evaluated as Haram for investment and use because the asset demonstrates material Sharia compliance concerns within the CoinStudy HCS framework.
Explanation
This asset shows significant concerns related to Sharia compliance, financial structure, or speculative design.
Reviewed by
CoinStudy Shariah Board
Gate.io is one of the most established cryptocurrency exchanges in the market — known for listing a wide range of altcoins, offering comprehensive trading services, and building a large global user base since its founding in 2013.
GateToken (GT) is the native utility token that powers the Gate.io ecosystem — providing fee discounts, VIP benefits, launchpad access, and various platform privileges to holders. For Muslim investors who use Gate.io or are considering it, the question about GT is natural and important.
But as we've now established consistently across seven previous exchange-native token analyses — the compliance assessment of an exchange token is determined not by what the token does in isolation, but by what the exchange ecosystem it belongs to actually does. And Gate.io's ecosystem, like every other major cryptocurrency exchange we've analyzed, is built significantly around financial products that raise serious Islamic finance concerns.
We ran GT through the full CoinStudy Halal Crypto Standard (HCS) methodology. Here's the complete picture.
GT fails the CoinStudy HCS Sharia red-line screening. Three red lines are triggered — Riba Exposure, Guaranteed Interest, and Synthetic Interest Products — resulting in an automatic Haram classification with no further scoring.
This is now the seventh exchange-native token in our analysis series to receive this classification. BNB, LEO, CRO, OKB, BGB, KCS — and now GT. The pattern is consistent because the business model is consistent.
GateToken (GT) is the utility token of the Gate.io cryptocurrency exchange ecosystem — one of the oldest and most established exchanges in the market, founded in 2013 and serving users globally.
The token provides trading fee discounts, VIP membership benefits, launchpad participation access for new token offerings, platform privileges, and various ecosystem incentives for active Gate.io users. Its value and demand are directly tied to activity and growth across the broader Gate.io platform.
The token's mechanics are straightforward and similar to BNB, OKB, BGB, and KCS — hold GT, receive benefits on the platform, benefit when the platform grows. The compliance assessment follows the same path as all of them — because the platform that GT belongs to has the same compliance-triggering characteristics.
Gate.io operates as a comprehensive cryptocurrency exchange offering spot trading, perpetual futures, leveraged products, lending services, borrowing programs, yield-generating products, structured investment offerings, and various passive income programs.
Some services — spot trading, basic custody, launchpad access — have legitimate utility. Others are the source of the compliance failures.
Gate.io's lending products allow users to deposit assets and earn percentage returns. Its borrowing services allow users to access liquidity by paying financing fees. Its perpetual futures and derivatives markets facilitate leveraged speculation. Its structured yield products offer ongoing percentage returns on deposited capital.
These financial services are central to how Gate.io competes in the exchange market and generates revenue. GT is the token that gives users benefits across this entire ecosystem. When these services grow — when more lending, more borrowing, more derivatives trading flows through Gate.io — GT becomes more valuable.
Gate.io's ecosystem includes lending products where users deposit assets and receive percentage returns, borrowing services where users pay financing costs to access liquidity, and structured yield products that generate ongoing income from deposited capital.
These financial mechanisms create direct Riba exposure. The returns to depositors are percentage-based, ongoing, and tied to the capital they've deposited and the lending and borrowing activity occurring against it. That is Riba — regardless of whether it's implemented through a crypto exchange, a traditional bank, or a DeFi protocol.
GT is the token that powers and benefits from this ecosystem. Its value grows when these interest-linked services grow. The structural connection between GT's value and the Riba-generating activities of the platform is inseparable.
Gate.io supports leveraged financial products, derivatives markets, margin trading systems, and complex financial instruments that introduce elevated uncertainty far beyond normal commercial activity. Perpetual futures with liquidation mechanisms, leveraged positions that amplify uncertainty, and derivative products whose value is determined by complex market mechanics all compound the compliance concerns.
Gate.io is heavily involved in perpetual futures contracts, leveraged trading, derivatives markets, margin trading, and high-risk speculative products. These services encourage participants to speculate on short-term price movements with borrowed capital — generating platform revenue from the financial behavior that Islamic finance most directly identifies as gambling-like.
GT benefits from this speculative trading activity. When derivatives volumes increase, when leveraged trading grows, when more users open perpetual futures positions on Gate.io — GT's ecosystem expands and the token becomes more valuable.
GT fails three red lines. Under the CoinStudy HCS framework a single failure results in automatic Haram classification. Three failures makes this result definitive.
Riba Exposure — ❌ Failed. Gate.io's lending products, yield programs, and interest-linked financial services create direct Riba exposure that GT powers and benefits from.
Guaranteed Interest — ❌ Failed. Lending and yield products within the ecosystem advertise percentage returns on deposited capital — guaranteed interest income that funds the platform's financial ecosystem.
Synthetic Interest Products — ❌ Failed. Structured yield products and financial instruments within the Gate.io ecosystem function as synthetic interest-bearing mechanisms in their economic structure.
Gambling and Betting — ✅ Passed.
Haram Industry — ✅ Passed.
Three red lines failed. Layer 2 scoring is skipped entirely.
Overall Result: Haram — Red Line Violations
Muslim investors following our analysis series have now seen seven major exchange-native tokens evaluated:
BNB (Binance) — Haram.
LEO (Bitfinex) — Haram.
CRO (Crypto.com) — Haram.
OKB (OKX) — Haram.
BGB (Bitget) — Haram.
KCS (KuCoin) — Haram.
GT (Gate.io) — Haram.
Seven exchange tokens. Seven haram classifications. Every major centralized cryptocurrency exchange we've analyzed has received the same outcome for the same structural reason.
This is not a methodological bias or an overly restrictive interpretation of Islamic finance. It reflects a real and consistent pattern in how major cryptocurrency exchanges generate revenue and what financial products they offer to compete in the market.
The exchanges that have grown largest and attracted the most users have done so by offering derivatives trading, leveraged products, and interest-like earn programs — products that attract traders and generate significant revenue but are incompatible with Islamic finance principles. Their native tokens, which derive value from this ecosystem activity, inherit those compliance problems.
Gate.io is a large and established exchange with over a decade of operating history. It serves millions of users. It has listed thousands of tokens. It has survived multiple market cycles that eliminated many competitors.
That track record and scale are genuinely impressive from a conventional financial perspective. They don't change the compliance analysis.
Islamic finance evaluates financial structures — not the age or size of the companies operating those structures. A large, well-established exchange offering lending products with guaranteed percentage returns and derivatives trading is subject to the same compliance assessment as a newer exchange offering the same products. The structure determines the outcome, not the scale.
Many Muslim investors who ask about GT are existing Gate.io users who find the platform useful for accessing a wide range of cryptocurrencies.
It's important to separate two questions. Using Gate.io's basic spot trading services — buying and selling halal-rated cryptocurrencies — may have different compliance implications than holding GT tokens specifically as an investment.
The haram classification here applies to GT as an investment token whose value is structurally tied to the growth of Gate.io's interest-bearing and speculative financial ecosystem. Muslim investors should consult a qualified Islamic scholar for personal guidance on their specific platform usage.
Before investing in any exchange-native token, ask yourself:
Does this exchange offer lending and yield products with advertised percentage returns on deposited assets? Are perpetual futures, derivatives trading, and leveraged products central to how the exchange generates revenue and competes? Does the token's value grow when the exchange's interest-bearing products and derivatives volumes increase? Am I holding this token as an investment whose returns depend on the expansion of prohibited financial services? Would I be comfortable with a qualified Islamic scholar reviewing what specific activities drive the value of this token?
For GT — as with every exchange token we've analyzed — the answers consistently point in the same direction.
GateToken (GT) is classified as Haram / Non-Compliant under the CoinStudy Halal Crypto Standard.
Three Sharia red lines are triggered — Riba Exposure, Guaranteed Interest, and Synthetic Interest Products — resulting in automatic Haram classification. The Gate.io ecosystem is heavily connected to leveraged trading, derivatives markets, lending services, structured yield products, and other interest-linked financial activities that conflict with Islamic finance principles.
GT's utility within the Gate.io platform is real and acknowledged. But utility cannot override compliance when the ecosystem generating that utility is built significantly around prohibited financial activities.
For Muslim investors — GateToken joins a consistent and comprehensive list of exchange-native tokens classified as haram. The pattern is clear and the reasoning is consistent. Exchange tokens derive their value from exchange ecosystems. Major exchange ecosystems generate substantial revenue from derivatives trading and interest-like financial products. Those activities are incompatible with Islamic finance principles.
Disclaimer: This analysis is provided for educational and research purposes only. This analysis is based on guidance from CoinStudy's HCS Shariah Board members. CoinStudy does not issue personal fatwas or financial advice. Please consult a qualified Islamic scholar for individual guidance.
Guaranteed Interest
No guaranteed interest obligations
Synthetic Interest Products
No synthetic interest instruments
3 Red Lines Failed
This asset is automatically classified as HARAM.
