SAB Bank Pioneers World’s First Blockchain Islamic Repo in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's SAB just rewrote the rulebook—deploying blockchain to execute the first-ever Islamic repo transaction. No middlemen, no legacy delays.

How Blockchain Slashes Settlement Times

Traditional finance moves at a snail's pace—sometimes taking days to settle. SAB's system? Near-instant. The tech validates transactions on-chain, ensuring Sharia compliance without the usual bureaucratic tango.

Why Islamic Finance Needed This Disruption

Conventional repos clash with Islamic principles—interest-based deals are a non-starter. Blockchain introduces transparency and automation, aligning profit-sharing with faith-based mandates. Finally, a solution that doesn't make clerics and traders choose sides.

Global banks are watching—and sweating. If a Saudi institution can streamline one of finance's clunkiest products, what's next? Tokenized sukuk? Automated zakat distributions? The old guard's 'if it ain't broke' mantra just met its match.

One cynical footnote: Wall Street spent decades overcomplicating repos to justify fees. Blockchain just cut that gravy train off at the pass.

SAB taps into blockchain growth in the KSA

According to Oumla’s website, “It replaces paperwork and manual steps with smart digital contracts, ensures all transactions are securely and immutably recorded, and helps banks manage their assets and liquidity more easily and with reduced risk.”

Victor L. Phillipe, Virtual Assets and Currency Lead at SAB noted, “Oumla has a solid understanding of blockchain technology. Their team supported us with guidance.”

This year, Saudi-based layer 1 blockchain platform Oumla partnered with Avalanche with the aim of creating Saudi Arabia’s first layer 1 blockchain fully hosted in KSA. As per the X post, “This collaboration will support startups and SMEs, driving technological innovation across Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.”

In July 2025, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce, in its quarterly business sector bulletin, noted that of the 80,000 new business commercial licenses registered in Q2 of 2025 in Saudi Arabia, most of them are in high-growth industries such as blockchain, AI, and Big Data analytics.

The total number of valid business records in KSA reached 1.72 million. Saudi Arabia witnessed 34% growth in AI commercial registrations and 51% growth in blockchain commercial registrations, with over 4,000 companies now registered in the country.

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