HCS Score
Red Line Violations
Research Opinion, Not a Fatwa
These are absolute prohibitions in Islamic finance. If any red line is triggered, the asset is automatically classified as HARAM.
Ecosystem Riba Exposure
Not directly or indirectly connected to interest generating mechanisms
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
There is a category of analysis where the answer is immediate, well-supported by the project's own documentation, and requires no novel jurisprudential deliberation. Shuffle is a crypto casino. SHFL is its wagering and utility token. Casino gambling is expressly prohibited in the Quran in Surah Al-Maidah verse 90 alongside alcohol as something believers must avoid. The Shuffle project's own description explicitly states that SHFL is designed to be used as a wager asset on the platform. CoinStudy's analysis of SHFL proceeds from those two facts to an immediate Layer 1 conclusion. CoinStudy documents the analysis in full format because Muslim investors deserve to understand precisely why SHFL fails the HCS red-line screening rather than receiving only a verdict, and because understanding the specific mechanisms that produce this conclusion helps Muslim investors recognize similar structures in other tokens they may encounter.
SHFL fails two Layer 1 red-line checks simultaneously: Gambling and Betting and Haram Industry, with Maysir concerns documented through those same pathways. Under CoinStudy's HCS framework any single red line failure produces an automatic Haram classification. Layer 2 scoring is not conducted. No HCS score is assigned. The overall classification is Haram / Non-Compliant.
Shuffle is a crypto casino platform launched February 1, 2023. According to CoinMarketCap research, SHFL is ranked approximately 216 by market capitalization with a market cap of approximately $322.76 million and a circulating supply of approximately 484.41 million SHFL as of September 30, 2026. The total supply is 1 billion SHFL decreasing through the buyback-and-burn mechanism.
SHFL launched on March 14, 2024 through a liquidity bootstrapping pool. According to the Shuffle whitepaper and CoinMarketCap description, SHFL is designed to serve as a wager asset on the Shuffle casino platform, to power a buyback-and-burn mechanism funded by casino revenue, and to distribute rewards to the most active casino users through the Wager-to-Vest mechanism.
The founding team consists of Noah Dummett, Bainy Zhang, and Darcy Spangler, who previously held roles at Alameda Research, BitMEX, Three Arrows Capital, Fisher8 Capital, Revolt, and MMG according to the project's own description. All three founders are publicly identified with documented professional backgrounds. CoinStudy documents this information as a transparency observation rather than as evidence for the compliance classification, which rests entirely on the platform's documented gambling function and the token's stated purpose.
Casino gambling is expressly prohibited in the Quran and its prohibition is a well-established position in Islamic jurisprudence that does not require extended scholarly analysis to establish. The relevant analytical question for this specific project is whether Shuffle's mechanisms fall within that prohibited category. The answer is directly confirmed by the project's own documentation. Shuffle describes itself as a leading crypto casino. SHFL is explicitly described as a wager asset for that casino. The gambling mechanism is not incidental to Shuffle's operations: it is the platform's core business activity and the token's primary stated economic function.
Understanding the Maysir dimension in this specific context requires identifying three characteristics of casino gambling that classical Islamic jurisprudence has consistently recognized as the defining features of the prohibited mechanism.
The gambling mechanism transfers monetary value between participants and the platform according to chance-based outcomes rather than through productive exchange. Participants' gains and losses are determined by game outcomes rather than by genuine productive economic contributions. The gambling outcome itself does not represent the exchange of wealth for a productive underlying asset or service: the participant's monetary gain or loss is determined by the game outcome itself. These three characteristics are present simultaneously and completely in casino gambling and the Shuffle platform by its own description operates a casino.
The Wager-to-Vest mechanism is SHFL's primary native token distribution mechanism at Level 2. Users earn SHFL tokens by wagering on the Shuffle casino platform. The mechanism economically incentivizes users to wager because wagering generates SHFL rewards. This creates an additional incentive layer attached directly to the gambling activity. This mechanism does not mitigate the compliance concern. It compounds it by creating a financial reward structure built on top of the gambling mechanism that makes gambling activity economically attractive through token distribution. The economic incentive created by Wager-to-Vest is inseparable from the gambling activity it rewards.
The buyback-and-burn mechanism uses casino revenue to purchase SHFL from the market and permanently remove it from circulation. This is a common tokenomics mechanism that in isolation has no compliance concern. In the context of Shuffle this creates an additional structural concern because the token's supply-reduction mechanism is funded by revenue generated from the platform's gambling activity. Muslim investors who hold SHFL would benefit from a supply-reduction mechanism whose economic fuel is casino gambling revenue.
AAOIFI standards are not necessary to establish the primary prohibition here because the underlying activity is gambling. Their broader principles concerning permissible commercial activity provide contextual support for the conclusion. AAOIFI's foundational principle that financial instruments must serve permissible economic purposes and the requirement that underlying business activities be free from prohibited elements both confirm the HCS conclusion independently. Maqasid considerations may provide additional ethical context but are not necessary to establish the primary HCS red-line failure.
No interest-bearing mechanism exists in the core SHFL protocol design. This red line passes. It does not affect the overall Haram classification because two other red lines have already failed.
The Gambling and Betting red-line failure is established directly from the project's own documentation. Shuffle describes itself as a leading crypto casino. SHFL is designated as a wager asset on that platform. Casino gambling is expressly prohibited in the Quran. The Shuffle casino platform falls within the category of prohibited gambling activity and SHFL's primary stated utility is wagering on that platform. The red-line failure is immediate and complete.
Casino gambling as an industry is prohibited under the Quranic injunction documented in Surah Al-Maidah verse 90. Shuffle operates as a casino. SHFL is its industry-specific token. The Haram Industry red-line failure follows from the same facts as the Gambling and Betting failure through a distinct analytical pathway: Gambling and Betting assesses the mechanism, Haram Industry assesses the business activity category.
The Shuffle casino constitutes a Maysir mechanism while SHFL's stated design as a wager asset directly connects the token's economic function to that mechanism. The gambling mechanism transfers monetary value between participants and the platform according to chance-based outcomes rather than through productive exchange. The participant's monetary gain or loss is determined by the game outcome rather than by a genuine productive economic contribution. The Wager-to-Vest mechanism at Level 2 compounds this by creating a financial incentive layer that makes gambling activity economically rewarding through SHFL distribution. The Maysir concern is assessed through the Gambling and Betting and Haram Industry red-line pathways and does not constitute an additional separate Layer 1 failure for the purposes of the No Double-Counting methodology note documented in the scope section.
No predetermined interest return mechanism exists in the core SHFL token design. This red line passes.
No synthetic interest structure in the core SHFL protocol design. This red line passes.
Overall HCS Result: Haram / Non-Compliant : Two Red Line Failures
Layer 2 scoring is not conducted under the CoinStudy HCS framework for assets that fail Layer 1.
Ecosystem Riba Exposure: ✅ Passed under CoinStudy's documented protocol-level HCS screening framework. No interest-bearing mechanism in the core SHFL protocol.
Gambling and Betting: ❌ Failed. Shuffle is self-described as a crypto casino. SHFL is designated as a wager asset on that platform. The gambling mechanism is the platform's core business activity and the token's primary stated economic function.
Haram Industry: ❌ Failed. Casino gambling is expressly prohibited in the Quran. Shuffle operates as a casino. SHFL is its industry token.
Guaranteed Interest: ✅ Passed. No predetermined interest return mechanism in the core SHFL design.
Synthetic Interest Products: ✅ Passed. No synthetic interest structure in the core protocol.
Maysir is assessed through the Gambling and Betting and Haram Industry pathways above rather than as a separate named check in the Layer 1 screening, because the same facts that establish the gambling prohibition establish the Maysir mechanism simultaneously. These concerns arise from related but analytically distinct pathways and do not constitute double-counting.
Overall HCS Result: Haram / Non-Compliant : Two Red Line Failures
SHFL's primary stated utility is wagering on Shuffle's casino platform, which is the direct basis for the Layer 1 red-line failures under Gambling and Betting and Haram Industry. The Wager-to-Vest mechanism economically incentivizes wagering by distributing SHFL rewards for gambling activity, creating an additional incentive layer attached directly to the prohibited mechanism. The buyback-and-burn mechanism creates an additional structural concern because it is funded by revenue generated from the casino platform's gambling activity.
CoinStudy classifies holding SHFL as non-compliant because SHFL's stated economic purpose and native mechanisms are directly integrated with the casino platform. This should not be conflated with the distinct question of whether merely holding an unrelated asset constitutes participation in gambling: the classification here rests on SHFL's documented direct integration with the gambling platform.
Any question concerning purification of previously received SHFL or airdrop tokens should be referred to a qualified Islamic scholar. CoinStudy advises against participating in SHFL airdrop campaigns because the distributed token is directly connected to a gambling-focused platform.
Acquiring SHFL creates exposure to a token whose stated utility and economic mechanisms are directly connected to the casino platform. CoinStudy would classify SHFL perpetuals and leveraged derivatives as non-compliant based on both the derivative structure and the underlying asset's connection to a gambling-focused platform, with each product assessed according to its specific mechanism. Participating in any casino game on the Shuffle platform using any asset raises its own separate compliance concerns under the Gambling and Betting prohibition independent of SHFL's classification.
Shuffle (SHFL) is classified as Haram / Non-Compliant under the CoinStudy Halal Crypto Standard. Two Layer 1 red lines fail: Gambling and Betting and Haram Industry, with Maysir mechanism concerns documented through those same analytical pathways. These additional factors do not alter the primary HCS conclusion because the classification rests on the documented gambling function and stated purpose of the platform and token. Casino gambling is expressly prohibited in the Quran. Shuffle by its own description operates a casino. SHFL by its own documentation is designed as a wager asset for that casino. These three facts are sufficient to establish the Haram classification and they derive from the project's own published materials rather than from CoinStudy's inference.
Read detailed analysis and concepts here:
Understanding Maysir in Crypto
Understanding Gharar in Crypto
Real Risks of Haram Crypto Projects
Disclaimer: This analysis is provided for educational and research purposes only based on guidance from CoinStudy's HCS Shariah Board. The Haram classification of SHFL rests on the Quranic prohibition of gambling documented in Surah Al-Maidah verse 90 and the project's own documentation of SHFL as a wager asset on a casino platform. No personal fatwa is being issued. Questions concerning previously received tokens or the purification treatment of gambling-related income should be referred to a qualified Islamic scholar. CoinStudy does not issue personal fatwas or financial advice.
Guaranteed Interest
No guaranteed interest obligations
Synthetic Interest Products
No synthetic interest instruments
2 Red Lines Failed
This asset is automatically classified as HARAM.
Is UNUS SED LEO halal?
LEO · HCS 0 · Haram
