This chapter explores how Muslim millennials construe the “haram fatwas” on cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. The term “haram fatwas” in this context refers to the legal opinions (fatwas) issued by Indonesia's religious authorities that deem cryptocurrencies to be impermissible under Islamic law (haram). Muslim millennials are presented with a dilemma in which their religious ideals clash with their interest in trading for financial gain. On the one hand, religious authorities forbid them to profit from trading in cryptocurrency, while, on the other hand, they believe that trading in cryptocurrencies may increase their asset values multiple times. This chapter demonstrates that when confronted with a delicate interaction between religion and economics, millennials tend to be secular and simply think about the profit margin. Furthermore, some of them compensate for having compromised their faith by donating the bulk of their cryptocurrency trading profits. For them, this is a means to atone for their sins after partaking in religiously forbidden activities. Data for this chapter was derived from statements made by millennials in open Telegram groups. The data helped to provide a comprehensive understanding of Indonesian millennials’ perceptions of the fatwas forbidding cryptocurrencies and the cryptocurrency trading context in general.

INTRODUCTION

Cryptocurrency fever has afflicted the Indonesian millennial generation, that is, anyone born between the 1980s and 1996 (Irawanto 2019). Aside from an increase in searches for the word “crypto” on Google Trends Indonesia from 2020 to 2022, conversations about this asset are becoming more common on YouTube and Telegram. Millennials produce almost all the content on cryptocurrencies (Allcot 2021). Notable channels include those run by millennials like Kevin Sailly, Andy Senjaya, Ngomongin Uang (Glenn Ardi), Felicia Putri Tjiasaka, and Kasisolusi (Deryansha). Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the millennial generation has become one of the most important agents in the growth of cryptocurrencies in Indonesia. This trend is similar to that in the United States, where 49 per cent of millennials feel comfortable with cryptocurrencies (Royal 2021). One possible explanation is that millennials are regarded as the generation that fully utilizes the Internet (Vogels 2019). Use of the Internet involves everyday tasks like interacting with others, shopping, working and earning money.

Despite millennials’ enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies, the Indonesian authorities have been prohibiting cryptocurrencies since 2015. This is particularly the case with Bitcoin, the first and most popular cryptocurrency.