Israel Approves Shekel-Pegged Stablecoin Issuance

Israel approves stablecoin issuance pegged to the shekel by Bits of Gold.

For the first time, the Israel Capital Markets Authority has granted a license for the issuance of a stablecoin pegged to the shekel. The issuer will be the cryptocurrency exchange Bits of Gold.

The company received approval after two years of testing in a regulatory sandbox. In 2024, the Bank of Israel invited local and international service providers to participate in developing “innovative use cases” for the digital shekel.

The asset, under the ticker BILS, is built on the Solana blockchain with the involvement of custodian Fireblocks. Security auditing was conducted by EY.

Developers noted that the stablecoin sector has exceeded $300 billion. The dominance of dollar-backed tokens concerns other countries, as regulators believe it threatens their digital sovereignty. The launch of BILS aims to address this issue for the local market.

Bits of Gold emphasized that the shekel has performed well against developed markets. Over the past year, the currency has appreciated by 20% against the dollar. The introduction of a digital version will place the shekel alongside the euro, yen, and Singapore dollar, which are already used in blockchain systems.

Earlier in September, Kazakhstan announced Evo, a “stablecoin” on the Solana blockchain.

In December, it was revealed that Cumberland will assist Bhutan in launching a national stablecoin.