Israel could be the first country to adopt cryptocurrency. The speculations come after the country’s decision to invest efforts in exploring blockchain technology. The nation dubbed as the ‘Startup nation’ has been in the limelight of technology advancement. The country’s ventures accumulated up to $5 billion in 2017. Israel is also keen on developing innovations that are powered by blockchain technology, as well as the establishment of clearing and settlement systems. Some events that hint a clue of Israel’s support for cryptocurrency include the Supreme Bank’s decision to block Leumi Bank from limiting Bits of Gold brokers facilitating the sale of cryptocurrency.
The state of cryptocurrency in Israel
Israel Startups believe the applications of blockchain technology are numerous, but the Israel Stock Exchange is reluctant on involving cryptocurrency companies. Bancor was the first initial coin offering that raised $150 million. The offering was followed by IOTA blockchain launching its office in Tel-Aviv. The country was first to adopt cryptocurrency, but a series of developments after Bitcoin’s price falls resulted to the stock exchange considering a ban of all crypto trading in the country.
The stock exchange remarked that a lot of investors had lost their asset’s as a result of cryptocurrency volatility calling for the need to blacklist cryptocurrency related companies. The regulators, however, did note that the problem was caused by stockbrokers who were using cryptocurrency to inflate their stock. The fact that Cryptocurrency was not regulated gave the stockbrokers an avenue to entice investors into the trade. Another concern was also rising that a majority of companies had begun to add the term blockchain to their names to inflate stock prices.
Israel plans to have a digital currency
The Israel government has been considering have its digital currency. The currency ‘digital Shekel’ will offer all the benefits offered by Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. The Digital Shekel is set to replace the State currency, Shekel. The valuation of both the shekel and the digital shekel will not have any differences. The main difference is that the Digital Shekel‘s prices won’t be extremely volatile as has been the case with Bitcoin. The digital Shekel could launch the country into a new financial revolution for Blockchain investors.
