Financial cybercrime in the metaverse has become increasingly more significant for authorities, corporations, and individuals to address, requiring new regulatory and compliance frameworks, as well as novel cybersecurity mechanisms in order to prevent these crimes. Financial cybercrimes in the metaverse have increased in the last years significantly, with either the massive stealing of cryptocurrencies from exchanges or the sale of fake or dubious NFT and other financial products that have lost significant value within a short period of time. Cybercrimes in the metaverse have taken place at significant scales and given the infancy of regulations as well as the virtual nature of these activities, only few crimes have been prosecuted. Islamic finance may represent a considerable opportunity for the metaverse via connecting the financial services and instruments to real and virtual assets free of speculation. The article provides several recommendations for regulators to address these cybercrime challenges and how Islamic finance can assist in these cybercrimes.

The metaverse has become of paramount importance within the last several years, being a virtual universe where individuals and companies can interact. While the metaverses are still in their nascent stage, there has been increasing interest and capital inflow into these universes. For Shariah-compliant focused financial investors and participants, this represents a considerable challenge given the existing lack of Islamic financing frameworks for the metaverses. This chapter outlines options for providing Shariah-compliant financing in the metaverse, outlining the challenges and aspects that have to be taken into account for creating Shariah-compliant financing forms in the metaverse. The framework adapts conventional Islamic financing options, such as Murabaha and Sukuk, to the metaverse, ensuring that both the contracting and crypto-payments are Shariah-compliant and supportive in the metaverse. The framework provides an important step towards the development of Shariah-compliant financing forms within the metaverse.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes have experienced worldwide rapid growth rates in order to stimulate consumption growth and provide consumers with more options in paying for their items. Traditional consumers were offered for a long time offers where they may purchase products and services and then pay them off over a period of time. BNPL schemes are a new form of electronic installment payment arrangements that permit the purchase of even smaller items and pay them off over a period of time. While installment options were mostly restricted to larger purchases, such as cars and furniture, newer BNPL enable to purchase efficiently even less expensive goods and services. This change in opportunities has attracted merchants and financial services provider in Islamic countries to evaluate BNPL for their business and provide it to their consumers. Islamic law has various forms of contracts that may be utilized for BNPL scheme. However, the most common form is the structure of a Murabaha for financing these schemes. The article outlines the general BNPL structure for Islamic finance and the legal issues that arise from general BNPL schemes. Ensuring the solid connection between goods and services and the financing is paramount for maintaining compliance with Shariah law. The legal analysis outlined several structures that are suitable for BNPL schemes that are Shariah compliant, enabling Islamic finance to strengthen the sector and provide dedicated financing options.