Trading on the stock exchange on Saturday
Peace and blessings,
I was recently offered a job where I was required to develop computer software that would trade stocks or digital currencies. The goal is to develop software that would run 24/7 (since it is possible to lose huge sums if you don’t constantly check the market situation, especially in the digital currency market where changes are usually drastic in very short intervals of time).
I would be grateful if the Rabbi could address a number of questions that I have on the subject –
A. Enjoyment of the desecration of the Sabbath by Jews involved in software development (apparently there is less room here to exercise the usual permissions, since this is a defined group of people, for business purposes, etc.).
on. Is there a prohibition against running such software knowing that it will continue to “run” on Shabbat? Is there a distinction between software that actually conducts commerce and software that runs but does not conduct business activity?
third. Is there any transaction permit on a standard exchange that may not exist in the digital currency market that could lead to interest prohibitions, etc.? Currency trading is buying and selling only (no loans), with a commission paid to a third party who actually performs the buying/selling and conversion to ‘real’ currency (third party receives dollars and returns virtual currency, etc.).
Thanks in advance, good writing and signing.
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I will try to elaborate a little –
Regarding section A’ – I work for a company, and parts of the software were developed/written on Shabbat by employees at the company. There is no question here about the decision to use Shabbat, but about a product that was partly created on Shabbat by Jews who are partners in the company.
Regarding section C’ – There was no argument that a commission is interest. The question is about the permits that were given for trading on the stock exchange (for example, Rabbi Feinstein to buy individual shares without gaining control of the company, etc.) – Are there any prohibitions (such as owning digital currencies that are traded on Shabbat, perhaps through companies that operate on Shabbat) that have permits on the regular stock exchange that would not apply to digital currencies (for example, if the third party through whom a purchase is made works on Shabbat. The companies are not limited liability. Perhaps there is a lenient side because the vast majority of those involved in the field are not Jewish).
You don't use the product? So what's the question? Are you allowed to work there? If you don't desecrate Shabbat, I don't see a halachic prohibition on it.
Although I'm not very knowledgeable in the field, on the surface I don't see a connection between securities and digital currency. Securities have partial ownership of a company (then the main discussion is about ownership of property created by desecrating Shabbat and desecrating Shabbat itself, and about the strike of things you own), and with digital currency you are the full owner of your coins. What the companies that sell or buy do is none of your business. Even if the sales and purchases of your own coins are done on Shabbat (I don't know if that's the case), as long as there is no direct instruction from you to do so, I don't think there is a prohibition.
The more indirect the matter, the harder it is to prohibit, even before we get into a detailed discussion. For example, no one wonders whether to use media and websites that operate on Shabbat, even Jews and Israelis.
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